Raid: The Blacksmith-Chapter 96: Epilogue: Part Two

"I could tell that she was strong. Just not that strong." I utter looking at Dawn’s status window. That insane status window. And you’re telling me Peyton is undoubtedly stronger than that...?

Then again, what would I expect? There is a chance that she’s arguably the strongest A-Rank in the world, after all. The only A-Rank with a SSS-Rank Skill.

Not to mention her friend and supposedly her only rival among the A-Ranks of Niger, who casually dismantled my arm from the rest of my body like it was just a typical Tuesday for her. All with one swing of that humongous longsword.

"Yeah, I knew she was a shebeast."

"Master, that’s not very nice."

"Be quiet. You’re a shebeast, too." Dawn just looks at me with a disagreeable expression and pouts as I say that through our Soul Bond neural link.

Still... I’m really glad these powerhouses are actually on my side. Or else... well, let’s leave that to the imagination. It should be enough to know that shit would not look pretty, if I were to ever get on their bad side.

"Now back to the subject. Your base Stats — save for your Mana Capacity Stat — are actually lower than mine, yet you’re still much stronger than me, overall. Seeing your status window really helped me in understanding why that is. And why even though my Stats have already entered the S-Rank realm, it still doesn’t make me as strong as an S-Rank. Seems the reason is simple. The Skills. Well, the effects of high Ranked Skills to be exact."

"Yes." Dawn nods to my statement. "Your Skills are powerful, Master, but in terms of living up to the hype of A-Rank Skills and above, they’re still a bit lacking, I’m afraid." She laments.

"Tell me about it... I didn’t know that high Ranked Skills operated on the same principle that the Stats of Warriors do. In that, they also have Maximums and Minimums based on Ranks. And it’s only now that I saw the effects of your high Ranked Skills that I figured this out. Seems depending on the Rank of the Skill, the effects of a high Ranked Skill on a Warriors Stats will stay fixed on the specific number that corresponds with the Rank Maximum of that specific Skill’s Rank, based specifically on whether the Stat being effected is the Mana Capacity Stat or a Physical Related Stat. Which is why some of your A-Rank Skill effects on your Physical Related Stats cap at six hundred and twenty-four thousand, nine hundred and ninety-nine and why some of your S-Rank Skill effects on the very same Stats cap at three million, one hundred and twenty-four thousand, nine hundred and ninety-nine."

"Exactly..." Dawn agrees. "And since Skills have not much to do with the Level Stat..."

"That means my locked Level Stat won’t help much in making me exempt from that rule, like it did with my base Stats." I finish Dawn’s sentence. "So, even though none of my high Ranked Skills’ Stat effects have reached their respective Rank Maximums, once they do, they’ll stop there like every other Warrior’s Stat effects. Only after I’ve advanced the Ranks of the Skills themselves will the Stat effects increase further." I pause to let out a lazy sigh. "All in all, this leads me to only one conclusion... I still have a loooong way to go."

Dawn looks at me and smiles after I have my revelation. "Don’t worry, Master." She utters in a gentle and kind tone. "Don’t forget what Grandpa Chadwick told you."

"What’s that?" I ask her. No, I haven’t forgotten. I just want to hear it from Dawn’s voice for some reason. Maybe, it’s because of how soothing it is.

Dawn, as if immediately picking up on my intentions, says just what I need to hear, without hesitation. "You’ll get there." She utters...

Heh.

"Heh." I chuckle...

Yeah, I really needed that, shameless as it may seem to some.

"I’ll get there." I echo as I clench my fist.

Then almost immediately after, a message pops up.

[Report. Ruler’s Extended Vision Spell has been found to be incomparably compatible with Overseer Spell, Overseer thus wishes to absorb Ruler’s Extended Vision within itself to allow both Spells to merge into one, new, stronger Overseer Spell. The new Overseer Spell, will require the subject to rename it to better convey its upgrade.]

[Grant this wish?]

[~Yes~ or ~No~]

"It... wishes to absorb?" I echo as Dawn looks at the same message, peaking at it from my left. "Weird. Skills just absorb and devour without my say so when there’s a certain level of compatibility between them. But Spells actually... basically... ask the Warrior?"

"It kind of makes sense when you think about it, though, wouldn’t you say?" Dawn comments. Her question has me mulling it over for a good few seconds.

"Ah... I get it." I slightly exclaim. "So it’s because Spells are entirely different from Skills, is that it? In that they’re basically created consciously, instead of being gifts we receive from the System or from the monsters we kill?" I ask rhetorically.

"I think that’s the case." Dawn readily agrees, nodding her head as she does.

"I see, then I guess, it does make sense. Spells — unlike Skills, which are obtained, and Special Attacks, which are gained and semi-created subconsciously, as a manifestation of subconscious desires — are more intentional, and based on a Warriors conscious needs, so they’re less autonomous. Which is why, they require us to name them for our selves, instead of the name just basically coming to us on the spot, or being given by the System. By that principle, it makes sense why a Spell would ask if it can merge with another Spell. Meanwhile, Skills just do what they want, cocky bastards." I utter with a sigh while Dawn just laughs at my statement.

After that I casually move my finger towards the holographic message and tap ’Yes’. "Alright, let’s see where this goes."

[Report. Overseer Spell is absorbing Ruler’s Extended Vision Spell within itself....]

[Report. Overseer Spell and Ruler’s Extended Vision Spell are merging with one another...]

[Report Overseer Spell has successfully merged with Ruler’s Extended Vision Spell. Overseer Spell now requires a new name it to convey its upgrade.]

"Hm... a Spell that can not only see everything across great distances but also allow me to see anything my... ’’subordinates’’ see..." I stroke my chin as I try to think of a new name that will fit the Spell’s abilities perfectly.

"Ooh, ooh! Let me try! Master! Please, let me try, I can think of such a great name!" Dawn quickly jumps up and down in excitement while pleading with me, grabbing my shoulders and shaking me back and forth. And, of course, it’s adorable. 𝚏𝗿𝗲𝐞𝚠𝕖𝐛𝗻𝗼𝐯𝕖𝚕.𝚌𝗼𝗺

"Okay, okay, jeez, I haven’t even answered yet. Go ahead, psycho." I give in as I grab her hands to remove them from my shoulders, failing miserably to not let out a small laugh in the process.

"Oh... yeah... sorry, heheh..." She laughs awkwardly while sticking her tongue out. "Thank you, Master! Okay, get ready... drum roll please..."

I start making drum roll noises in response to her saying that.

"Here goes!" She then makes a weird gesture I don’t think she should even know of, after saying that. Placing her open right palm over her right eye, but making sure there’s space between the fingers so that her eye can still be visible through them, all the while, slightly titling her head up a bit, she utters; "Monarch of Argos!" She yells, her right eye glimmering a white light through her fingers.

"Aww... she also has a severe case of eighth-grader syndrome..."

"Hey!"

I break into brief genuine laughter before responding. "Yeah... that’ll do... ’Monarch of Argos’ sounds nice. Good job." I start patting Dawn’s head

Her cheeks flush almost immediately. She instinctively ducks her head down as if to hide it, or maybe to allow me better access to the top of her head to keep patting it... who knows.

After that, I close Dawn’s status window, but not before confirming the change of the Overseer Spell’s name to Mornarch of Argos, of course.

[Report! Spell renaming has occurred. Overseer Spell is now Monarch of Argos Spell. Monarch of Argos will now be processed in the Subject’s overall Warrior info, and the Subject’s Avatar’s overall Avatar info...]

[Now processing Monarch of Argos...]

[Monarch of Argos has been processed.]

[Report. Hidden Quest: First Product’s Avatar Awakening has been completed. Now calculating rewards...]

I pause for a bit then skim through the rewards obviously gained from Dawn becoming an Avatar, only for another Hidden Quest message to spontaneously pop up.

[Report: Hidden Quest: First Spell Evolution has been completed. Now calculating rewards...]

"Hah... yah neh."

I read through the final advancements on my and Dawn’s Stats. My Mana Capacity is now very close to reaching thirteen million. While it isn’t much compared to Dawn’s — to the point that she basically has one hundred times as much Mana as me — it’s still a number I would’ve never thought I’d reach when I first became a Warrior. Then again, that’s not really a very long time ago... but we don’t need to go into that.

"Alright, that’s it then. I understand where we stand now." I utter while walking through the forest with Dawn at my side. "I’ll be honest... now that I’ve seen your Stats, part of me wants us to go into a Dungeon to see what kind of mayhem you’d cause if I just let you loose."

"Please don’t talk about me like I’m some sort of dangerous pet." Dawn pouts while looking away.

"Heheh."

"Besides..." She continues. "Grandpa Chadwick made it pretty clear he wasn’t going to tolerate any messing around from your side, from now on." She teases with a condescending smirk, the brat.

"Don’t remind me." I sigh weakly as I look to the side. "That man can be pretty scary it seems. A lot scarier than I gave him credit for... hah, no matter..." I add as we stop walking after reaching an open space of about a hundred metre diameter on all sides, by my rough estimate, situated in the middle of the forest. "I’ve got a lot to do outside of Dungeon exploration, anyway." A mischievous smirk makes its home on my money maker.

"Oh? Is it finally happening?" Dawn queries with childish enthusiasm, her pure white eyes gleaming all the while.

Her question would be too vague for some to answer, but to the both of us, it’s all but obvious what she’s referring to.

"That’s right." I chuckle slyly. "Time to get started on building a smithy." I declare.

"Heheh! Finally! I can’t wait to see what it’s gonna be like. I bet it’ll be amazing!" Dawn exclaims in genuine joy. Is it me, or is she a tad happier than even I am? Well... I guess I can’t blame her. This is a pivotal moment. Chances are, there might even be a Hidden Quest behind this...

"Alright, let’s get a good look at what we have in the ole’ arsenal, shall we?" I utter before adding; "Open Item Space."

The holographic screen pops up, but I only look through anything building related, such as wood, or anything of the sort. Then I spot it...

"Ah-hah!" I exclaim. "Just what I’m looking for... ’Various planks of wood’." I echo, noticing the ’Various planks of wood’ bulletin on the list of things in my Item Space.

I then conjure out all the various planks of wood, directing them towards the centre of the open space. And, sure enough, they really are, in fact, various planks of wood. All neatly and finely cut in different shapes and sizes.

They materialize in pixel form in front of me and Dawn, neatly gathered in a mountain-like shape. A pile, roughly the size of a two-floor house.

"How fun."