System Change

Back outside, in front of the trial orbs, Derek and the others worked on setting up their camp. Well, Derek wasn’t so much setting up the camp as watching the others set up what they had brought. They hadn’t known about Derek’s Time Prison, and with the way the dungeon ended up being, he didn’t know exactly how much use they would get out of it.

Of course, he would get all the use out of it that he could. It went everywhere with him, and he already had everything set up inside. First, he wanted to look around at the others, especially Tyron.

When they called the man The Walking Forge, they weren’t kidding. In the short couple hours since Vanessa and the others went into the trial, Tyron had basically set up a high-quality functional smithy. Hell, his temporary one looked better than Brandi’s permanent one. Of course, that should be expected of a smith at his level.

Finally, Derek decided to walk over and get to know a bit more about the giant of a smith. Tyron was precisely positioning a furnace, and looked up as he approached.

“Hey, Tyron. How’s it going over here?” Derek asked.

The man shifted the furnace into the ground a bit before nodding and speaking. “Nothing to complain about. Thought I was going to be doing more monster hunting and weapon repairing than actual smithing. Was hoping to get some good materials.”

Derek nodded. “I’m sure you still will. From the look of the dungeon, it’s going to get more and more difficult as we move along. The stronger of us will need to take part in the trials sooner or later. Plus, you’re the blacksmith here and I’m sure those who take the trials are going to need some help from you. And I’m sure they will have collected materials from their trials…”

Tyron gave Derek a knowing smile. “That’s the plans at least,” he said, confirming Derek’s suspicion that he wasn’t actually too broken up about not fighting. “Isn’t that every smith’s dream? To swing a hammer while others go out and collect high level materials. Don’t get me wrong, I love to swing my hammer at both metal and beasts, but my first love is smithing.”

“I can understand that. I think I know someone with that same mindset. It’s hard to even get them to stop to eat, much less go adventuring,” Derek said.

“A young one?” Tyron asked.

“Yeah. Just starting out. I’ve never seen such a gleam in someone’s eyes as her’s when she talks about crafting or is actually doing it,” Derek replied, but then also thought about how Clare looked when they were sparring. “I take that back. I’ve met one other child that has that same look, though it’s for fighting, not crafting.”

“I see,” the smith said. “Well, if they choose to walk the same path as me, and fight for their materials themselves, it’s going to be a long, hard road. Unless they are one of the Noble crafters, in which case, they will be fine without fighting.”

“She’s not a noble, but she won’t have to worry about materials any time soon. If ever.”

“That’s good. Will let her focus on her crafting and not have to take a hybrid path. Though choosing this path was the best choice I ever made, it hasn’t been an easy one. Lost some friends, made some enemies… you know, the typical commoner adventurer’s problem. Add to that splitting your time between hunting and crafting, and it’s even tougher.” Tyron explained with a somewhat weary look in eyes before it vanished like it had never been there.

“I get that.” Derek understood it. He had lost people. Not really after the system came, since he hadn’t really gotten that close to anyone, but before, and he was sure it hurt just as bad, if not worse. When he learned what had happened to Rayna while they were still in Torith, that pain had come back for a flash.

Now that he had people who he cared about once again, even if it wasn’t the same type of care as he had before, how would he handle it if something did happen? That was the question he kept asking himself, and the reason he was so hesitant to come along on the raid.

“Bah…” the smith exclaimed. “Enough talking about sad pasts and bad memories. Let’s talk about your glaive. I seem to have come upon a little extra time to smith, and lo-and-behold, my client is already here.”

Derek chuckled. “Now that’s something I can get behind.”

“Since we’re doing nothing else, let me get your measurements. Stick your arms out to the side and stand still,” Tyron commanded.

The smith obviously knew what he was doing, so Derek wouldn’t argue. He did as he was told. The giant man moved closer and began measuring his extremities and feeling his arms and legs. It was almost like a massage, but still pretty awkward. Derek wondered why this was needed for a weapon.

Soon, though, a green glow fell over the smith’s hands as he took Derek’s measurements. It made everything feel even more soothing. Derek even spaced out for a moment, but just as soon as the soothing sensation came, it stopped.

Derek shook his head and snapped back to reality. “What was that?” he questioned the man before him, who was looking at him like forging material.

“Hmm…” Tyron hummed before answering. “Oh, that?” His hand shone in a green glow once again. “It’s a skill that allows me to discern characteristics of my clients.” He answered, as if Derek knew what that actually meant.

“And by that, you mean?”

“Well, take your Dexterity and Strength, for example. I don’t know how much you have, but I can tell that they are relatively similar because of your build and the way your muscles feel,” the smith explained. “I know it seems a bit invasive, but I only get comparisons. Whether your Strength and Dexterity are 500 or 1200, I wouldn’t be able to tell you. At least not by that skill.”

“I… see.”

“However, I can tell that your Endurance is either maxed out, or close to it. But that’s not from any skill, that’s just from experience.”

“And how does any of this help to create a glaive?” Derek finally asked.

“I was getting to that part. No sense being impatient. We’ve got time,” the smith chided. “Do you plan on keeping your Dexterity and Strength close together? To keep that form-not overly bulky, but not as skinny as a stick?”

Derek thought about it for a moment before nodding. He planned on getting all his stats as high as possible. The Void Beast meals may mess with that plan a little, but he could always throw some spare points into Dexterity to make up for it.

“Good… that’s good.” Tyron said. “If that’s the case, then I can make you a glaive more suited to your stats.”

Derek nodded, seeing where this was going.

“Take that halberd you got earlier, for example. It’s a great weapon, sure, but it was made for me, not you. While I have plenty of Dexterity to do anything I need to, I am skewed greatly toward Strength, as you could probably tell. That weapon is much more suited for someone with Strength stats than Dexterity.

“If you were to take two heavy weapon users, one who focused in Strength, and one who focused in Dexterity, and give them that halberd, the Strength user would wield it much better than the Dexterity user. But, give the Dexterity user a smaller and shorter halberd made out of lighter materials, and that user would shine. Switch weapons again, and because the Dexterity weapon doesn’t have a good amount of weight to it, the Strength user would struggle.”

“I see… I guess that makes sense. But you should probably tell someone about that before you get so… handsy,” Derek said.

“I like seeing their reaction. It’s fun watching people squirm,” Tyron said. “Plus, it’s better if they don’t know beforehand. I can get a more realistic read on them. If they know the skill is coming, then they may do something to avoid it. Which would end up with me making them an inferior product.”

“I doubt you would make an inferior product.”

“Even if the weapon is extraordinary, if it goes to someone who is unfitted to wield it, it is an inferior product. Especially if I made the weapon for a client.” The man explained, and Derek couldn’t find any reason to dispute him. He was the smith, after all, and his words were sound.

“Alright, then, so what now?” Derek asked.

“Now, you answer a couple more questions.”

“What?”

“First, and… one second.” Tyron quickly fished out some papers out of his storage ring before presenting them to Derek. “This is a contract stating that I will not reveal anything I learn about you in the process of making your weapon to any other, and I will not use anything I learn about you to purposely hurt you or those around you. Pretty simple stuff, but usually needed.”

Derek took the contract and looked it over. It was exactly as the man explained. He quickly signed it with his mana signature, and soon, a new contract appeared on his status screen. He didn’t want a contract with a time frame hanging over the man’s head while he was in a dungeon, but something like this was more than appropriate.

“Okay, shoot.”

“Will you stats increase in the future? Specifically Strength and Dexterity?” Tyron asked.

“Wait… if you were just going to ask me these personal questions, why bother with the weird fondling?” Derek asked.

“Because everybody has different bodies. 500 Strength on you may look and feel completely different that 500 Strength on someone else. I’m a prime example of that. Like I said, I skew in favor of Strength, but I have quite a lot of Dexterity. Most people would be slimmer with the ratio I carry, but not me. It’s genetics.” Tyron explained.

“Huh… I never thought about that.”

“So… can you answer my questions?” Tyron asked again.

Derek relented. He knew that if the man could guess his Endurance, he had to have a good idea of what those two stats were at as well, and they weren’t that high, all things considered.

“I do. I will at least break the second threshold in both of them,” he answered honestly.

“Good… good. I’ll be able to pick a good material based on that,” the smith said. “And your Intelligence and Wisdom? How conductive would you like the weapon to be?” he asked, but seeing Derek’s frown, he continued. “How easy would you like it to be able to channel your element? Basically, if you have skills that are channeled through a weapon, it will need a higher level of conductivity based on the skill strength and your Intelligence.”

“The same as with the other two stats,” Derek said, indicating that both would be over the threshold, even though his Wisdom was already there. “And very conductive.”

Tyron’s eyes widened. “Is that so? I won’t ask you about how you plan to do that, but that is some stat spread you’re aiming for.”

“Yes… it is.” Derek smiled. “Do you need anything else?”

“I will later, when I begin the process of forging it, but for now, I will just work on the design. The one I was shown before was decent in design, but I think I could do it better. Would you rather that design, or let me have my way?”

“You do you.” Derek said. “You are the expert,” he finally spoke aloud what he’d been thinking all along.

“Very well.”

“If that’s everything, I’m going to go find Edgar. I’ll be anxiously awaiting the results.”

“You won’t be disappointed.”