System Change

Derek arrived at Tyron’s workspace to find the smith still hard at work, dismantling all the beasts he had received. He noticed that there were multiple storage rings laying on his workbench, and after the smith stored another set of materials in one he was holding, he tossed that ring over to the bench along with all the others.

By Derek’s count, Tyron should be getting close to completing his task. Just a couple more storage rings full of materials, and he would be finished dismantling and could get on with the more interesting part, crafting Derek the perfect glaive-one that he would bond with and hopefully would grow beside him. Because, of course, he still wasn’t sure how bonded weapons worked. But a man could dream about never having to search for another weapon. Though he did have Void Creation to make up for his lack of weapons now.

With nothing else to do, and not wanting to disturb the smith, Derek moved a couple hundred feet away and cleared out an area for himself. He put the table that used to be inside his Time Prison down in the clearing, then proceeded to set all his most comfortable chairs around it. Since he, Edgar, Avery, and Jasper were all pretty much banned from the trials for now, there was no sense in making his own camp close to the rest of the party.

If Edgar or the others wanted to join him, or if Tyron wanted to take a break, this area would be open to them. He would even allow them to use his comfy chairs… well, all but the one he was sitting in. It was his and his alone.

Like that, Derek made some coffee and watched the smith in silence, occasionally taking a sip. Time flowed, and soon, Tyron was finished with the materials. The smith brought six storage rings over to Derek and put them down on the table before taking a seat. Rocky wriggled his way over and dozed off under the table in the shade.

“This one has the wyvern parts, this one has the wyvern meat.” Tyron slit two rings to Derek while pouring his own cup of coffee and taking a sip. “The rest are assorted between the lesser beasts-all are separated by material.”

“Thanks,” Derek said. “It’s much appreciated.”

“I think I’m on the winning side of our arrangement,” Tyron said as he summoned a large sheet of paper out of his own storage ring and unrolled it along the table. “Here’s what I was thinking for your glaive…”

The idea Tyron had for Derek’s glaive was quite simple. He would use bone from the death attuned wyvern to make the pole, while using a combination of fangs and scales for the blade, and creating dragon leather out of the hide to wrap it in. Of course, there would be other materials, ones that would come out of Tyron’s own personal stash, used to bind the glaive.

“Around seventy percent competition, I’m going to need your help to attune the weapon to you. I can do it myself and make a weapon that is a good fit for most, but if you help in that process, it will be perfect for you,” Tyron explained.

“Sounds good to me,” Derek said. “I don’t have anything else to do, so I’ll just be hanging out around here for the time being. Just let me know when I’m needed.”

Tyron nodded. “Great.” The smith took another drink of his coffee. “I really like this stuff.”

“Me too,” Derek agreed.

“By the way,” the smith commented. “Did you know that your hair has changed colors? It’s not a lot different, but it’s sleeker and seems to have a hint of purple.”

“Unfortunate side effect of leveling one of my passive skills.” Derek laughed. “Well worth it, though.”

Tyron nodded and didn’t say anything else about it, which made Derek happy. The two continued chatting for a little over an hour before Avery joined them. It was a pleasant chat among what Derek would consider potential friends; he wasn’t completely sure yet, but it was looking that way.

Finally, Tyron excused himself to his workstation to begin work on his first project, Derek’s weapon. Like that, Derek waited. Occasionally, Avery or Edgar would stop by to chat, and even Jasper came by with his new companion once. Edgar was busy going back and forth between the two camps, keeping the peace, so to speak, while Avery was enjoying his freedom flying around on Lyra and getting to know his bonded companion better.

First, a few hours passed, then days. After ten days, Derek realized that he had yet to hear about the trial team returning from the puzzle trial yet. He also noted the growing concern on Edgar’s face each day that they didn’t come back.

On day twelve, Tryon came to get Derek to help him complete his weapon.

“I’m going to need you to hold the end of the glaive at its base, and channel as much mana into it as you can. If you have an elemental channeling skill, use that. The more you pump into it, the better the circulation the glaive will have when it is finished,” the smith explained.

Derek nodded seriously. “So the stronger the mana I push into it, the better the outcome?”

“Yes,” Tyron answered.

“Can we wait a few minutes for me to prepare?” Derek asked.

“At this point, we can wait up to around five hours before it will affect the smithing process. Do what you need to get in your best shape,” the smith suggested.

“Okay,” Derek said as he turned around and walked off into the distance.

He only went a few hundred feet out from the temporary camp before sitting in a meditation posture. Then, with an apology to Silvi, he pumped 175 stat points into intelligence. Almost instantly, the veins in his arms, legs, and rest of his body felt like they all exploded at once. But it wasn’t his veins, it was something more ephemeral.

His mana turned into what seemed like sludge and slowed to a near halt. Every inch the mana moved through him came with an immense pain. First, it started at the end of his extremities, then it worked its way to his core. His arms and legs were numb from the pain by the time the mana managed to crawl to his body.

Finally, the slow-moving sludge of mana met in his center, just underneath his heart, then, with an explosion, the mana began flowing back normally. The pain disappeared instantly, and he was perfectly fine. Endurance has to have something to do with the breakthroughs becoming easier. That, or my new race or class, makes it easier. Derek shrugged at the thought before testing out his new mana after the breakthrough.

It was… rough. Using Channel Void wasn’t as easy as before by a long shot. Before, he could almost instantly summon his mana, including the void laced mana, into one hand or the other, or direct it as if it was part of him. Now it was sluggish. He knew breaking through with his intelligence before his wisdom was a gamble, but intelligence would allow for a more powerful mana, which would allow his weapon to have better conductivity and be more suited for him.

For whatever good it would do, Derek threw his remaining 28 stat points into wisdom. It really didn’t make a difference, but it was the best he could do at the moment. It was the first time he’d been without any stat points left on his status sheet for a long time, and it felt weird.

Finally, Derek stretched and made sure he was good to go before walking back over to Tyron. Breaking through had taken him all of half an hour, and that was after he sat there for a bit practicing with his mana.

“You ready?” Tryon asked.

“As ready as I can get at the moment,” Derek replied.

“Good. Go ahead and grab on and start pumping your mana in. It’s already quite conducive to mana because of the material, so it should accept it easily,” the smith explained.

Derek nodded gravely and began. With immense focus, he pushed the sluggish void through his body and into his right hand, which was grasping the base of the pole. With a thought, he pushed the void into the weapon until he felt that he could push no more, then held it.

“Holy-” Tyron started to say something, but paused. “That’s good. Keep at it. As we go, you’re going to feel like you’re able to fill it with more mana. When you can, do it. We are trying to get as much in it as possible. But keep an eye on your mana and stamina pools. If you run out, that’s it. That’s as conductive as we’ll be able to make the weapon.”

Derek, with his eyes closed in concentration, nodded and continued holding his mana steady inside the glaive. He heard a clanging ring out and opened one eye slightly to see Tyron sweating over the workbench, swinging his hammer. Each time the hammer hit the glaive, Derek felt a little more space open up inside, and he pushed more mana in.

Six hours later, the hammering slowed down. “I… can’t… do… this… much… longer…” the smith panted as he swung his hammer.

Derek had to agree. His stamina and mana were fine, as he had slipped into Greater Meditation early on to keep them up, but his mind was as fatigued as it had ever been. Honestly, it didn’t feel unlike what he had felt back when he tested the mind potion for Roman. Still, he believed he could continue on for a few more hours at least, but if the smith couldn’t then that was it.

“That’s it…” the smith said. “I’m going to seal it. Hold the mana steady. No more in, no more out.”

Derek listened to the smith and concentrated on keeping the mana inside the glaive still. Watching the giant smith with one eye, he saw his hammer disappear into his storage ring. Then, the man pulled out a small stack of paper-like material, which he proceeded to grasp between his two hands, almost in a prayer-like gesture, and closed his eyes.

All of the sudden, Tyron’s eyes shot open, and he opened his arms wide. In between his hands, connecting his two palms, was a molten-like chain with runes unknown to Derek. Derek watched the best he could as he focused on holding his mana.

Finally, the smith slammed both hands down onto the pole of the glaive, and the chained runes wrapped themselves around it. Then, before his eyes, Derek saw the runes disappear into the weapon, almost like they had never been there in the first place.

With a sigh of relief, Tyron took a step backwards, then fell to the ground. He sat with his head in his hands, panting. He brought out multiple potions and drank them down one by one, before finally looking up at Derek.

“Monster…” he said, then breathed deeply once again. “I’m going to need at least two days to recover, then I’ll finish it. Three days from now, maybe four, and you will have your new weapon. You can go now.”

Derek struggled with it, but after a few moments of hesitation, he released his grasp on the unfinished glaive. With just six hours, he felt connected to it. Well, it was probably because of all the void embedded mana I pumped into it; he thought as he walked away, back to his area. He didn’t say anything to Tyron or ask him about the skill he had used at the end. Those were his secrets. He wouldn’t pry.

Finally, Derek fell into his comfy chair. Only three days to go. Derek was excited.

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