System Change

Chapter 291: Weapon Bond

With a vicious strike through the air, Harbinger cut into a tree, just missing the ducking Avery by inches. With the glaive stuck, Avery dashed in and released a flurry of slashes to Dereks abdomen, causing wound after wound to appear before regenerating at a speed visible to the naked eyes.

Avery clicked his tongue, then jumped high in the air, pulling out and nocking an arrow in the process. By the time Harbinger was free of the thick tree, an all too familiar Drill Shot from Averys bow was already en route to Derek. Even knowing what the shot had done to the wyvern in the trial, Derek braced himself and crossed his arms over his chest-glaive still gripped in one hand.

The Drill Shot landed just as Derek got his hands up. The tip of the arrow slowly, but surely, dug into his naked forearm as he felt the pains from his back and legs sprout up. Pain caused by Avery moving behind him as soon as he released his shot, and taking his frustration out on Derek. Soon, a dagger found the back of Dereks knee and he fell.

Now down on one knee, the blows began to get more fierce, now aiming for vital areas. But Derek had slipped into Greater Meditation the moment he got his guard up. Before, the healing was visible, but now, it was near instant. And with his armor-like skin caused by his over 1,500 points in endurance and whatever unknown increases his newly forged void body had given him, the healing was almost instant.

Of course, this wasnt an all out fight. He and Avery had set some ground rules. For the spar, Derek wasnt using any void skills, and Avery wasnt using any of his overdrive skills, which is what Avery called his rapid stamina consuming skills he used. They were battling based on pure physicality. That was the best way for him to get used to his new weapon. Plus, it would be good to fight with someone that had such speed.

Avery had agreed instantly when Derek asked to spar. He was bored with sitting around already, even though hed only been out of the trial for a couple of weeks. So, when Derek mentioned sparring, Avery had taken him up on it, and they were in the air looking for a good battleground almost instantly.

Now, why was Avery aiming for Dereks vitals in a spar? Well, that was because Derek told him to. He had given the man one rule, and that was not to aim for his brain. Derek was sure he could heal from anything else, but he didnt want to risk his brain.

So the two fought. Actually, they fought endlessly for almost an entire day. Derek was doing it all to learn more about his new weapon before bonding with it. Avery may not have been the perfect opponent, but he was all Derek had. The prince still had to go around and do princely things, and Tyron was busy crafting.

Actually, if Derek could choose, he would want to fight against Tyron. At least he would be able to have a hit or two land on the man. But it was still good practice, and even though sparring didnt provide as good of skill increases as fighting for ones life, it was better than nothing. However, in the day of sparring, Derek hadnt gained a single level in anything.

Whew! Avery said as he gasped for breath. How are you not even breathing hard? the archer panted like he was dying, pulling out some water and gulping it down in between breaths.

Im built different. Derek shrugged with a smile. High endurance equals high stamina, Derek said. Besides, Im not the one dancing around and bouncing from tree to tree. I was damn near standing in that one spot all day. Also, you should really look into evolving your Meditation skill. It would do someone as stamina based as yourself wonder.

Avery snorted. You dont have to tell me that. Ive been jealous ever since I found out about it. Ive been kicking myself for spending the few Skill Upgrade Points I had years ago. You know how hard it is to level Meditation especially when youre already sitting at level 250.

Derek smiled. He was in a generous mood right now. If it was possible to use Void Call while inside a dungeon, he would think about bringing some Void Beasts inside so Avery could farm himself up some Skill Upgrade Points from the Slayer of the Unknown Achievement.

Actually, thats not a bad idea, Derek thought. After learning about even another probably more powerful system in the universe, he wondered about the Void Beasts, and if it was possible to summon one that was much more powerful than the current power ceiling of the Great System. But if he brought Avery, Lyra, and Silvi along, surely they could handle just about anything that appeared.

How about when we get out of here, we go on a little side quest to get some more ingredients? Derek asked, knowing full well that Avery already knew that Derek had a way to easily summon Void Beasts. Maybe you can get your Slayer of the Unknown skill up, which would, in turn, grant you some extra Skill Upgrades Points.

Avery blinked rapidly for a few moments. You serious? he asked, still kind of stunned at the opportunity.

As serious as Silvi when shes making breakfast, Derek laughed.

Next, he opened another new notification.

Congratulations

You have successfully bonded with Voids Harbinger.

With your bond, you have unlocked various upgrades for Voids Harbinger.

Okay This has to be kind of like the upgrades from my Bare Fist Specialty skill, right? With that thought, Derek moved on to the next message.

Please Choose Upgrade

Durability, Heaviness, Length, Lightness, Merge, Size

There were six upgrades that could pick from on the list compared to the three he had for his bare fists. Durability was just as it seemed. It increased the weapons durability by a certain percentage for each level he obtained in his skill; it was pretty much the same skill as Toughness. With the weapons innate ability, it made that upgrade next to useless.

Next was Heaviness. That upgrade was basically an ability that allowed him to increase the weapons weight by a certain percentage, which was the same as Lightness, except with Lightness, he would be able to basically make the weapon weigh next to nothing at a higher level. He immediately crossed Lightness of the list, but Heaviness may end up good if there arent any better upgrades in the future.

Length allowed him to extend the polearms length at will, and the length that he could extend it grew based on the skill level. It was an ability hed seen on TV and read about many times in fiction, though it usually came with a staff instead of a glaive.

Merge had him interested. It was basically two abilities in one. First, it allowed him to store Harbinger within himself instead of having to store it in a storage item. Next, since it became part of him, it would make it where no useful information would be given out when an appraisal type skill was used on the weapon unless the person using the skill was that much stronger than Derek. The higher the skill level, the easier it was to summon and unsummon the weapon. It was definitely the base upgrade he was leaning towards.

Finally, was Size. It was the upgrade that Tyron had obviously chosen. He could select any part of the weapon and increase its overall size. The size increase grew proportionally. Honestly, it was a pretty great upgrade. Though, for him, he couldnt see using it much. He could already control the size of the void blade that was generated when he used Channel Void.

So, looking the choices over again, he made his decision and chose Merge.

Merge Selected

Ability to store Harbinger in your body has been unlocked. Harbingers status has been successfully merged with your own. If information cannot be viewed about you, it cannot be viewed about Harbinger. Continue to level the skill to select more upgrades.

Like that, with a thought, Harbinger turned into a flash of light and disappeared inside his chest, going to the same place that contracts seemed to go to. With another thought, Derek held out his right arm and tried to summon the weapon. Harbinger then appeared in his hand. The speed of summoning the weapon was about the same as summoning it out of his storage bracelet. What he liked most, though, was that if his storage items ever got lost, destroyed, or taken, he would still have his weapon.

With a sigh, Derek stretched and stood. He had finished just about everything he needed to. He would now go check on everyone else.