System Change-Chapter 552: Another

The next nine days went by in what felt like no time at all. Yes, nine whole days. Shaemus had given Derek an estimate of a few days, but, in reality, for some reason, it took over a week. In that time, Derek traveled around the continent, leveling his new resistance skills. Surprisingly, the Origin System shot Derek a notification when a skill leveled, so even though he couldn’t see them at all times, he at least knew when they leveled.

Of all the resistance skills that he had to level, the skill that he chose to level first was the Ice Resistance skill. Derek had some less-than-ideal run-ins with ice users in the past, so he wanted to get that one out of the way. Clare had a great time pelting an immobile Derek with her ice skills and her ice-covered knuckles. She was sad when the leveling basically slowed to a crawl after just four levels—but she’d gotten to spend time with Derek and punch him in the face multiple times. Not many people could say that.

After leaving Clare, Derek traveled to Indaria and got help leveling his Ice Resistance skill to level twenty. Once that was finished, he had Rayna take out some of her frustrations on him. She also used a sword that Brandi had created with a mana core, so her wind skills hit harder than usual for someone at her level. He was able to get his Wind Resistance up to level twelve before it became too time-consuming.

With his Wind Resistance at level twelve, Derek moved on to his Earth Resistance skill—which turned out to be the quickest one to level. There were many earth users around Cydaria, but Derek went to someone he knew wouldn’t hold back—Victor Greenland. Though he no longer grieved Asana after the Trial Dungeon, when Derek showed up asking to get beat up, the elf was more than happy to oblige—whether he blamed Derek or not. After all, they didn’t really get along.

There were also plenty of people—though not that strong—in the Searidge family who were willing to blast Derek with some scalding hot water again. So, his Water Resistance leveling went by pretty quickly, too. Finally, he was left with just his Holy Resistance and a few more levels in his Wind Resistance. It was not easy to finish those off, and his new armor was ready before he was able to get them to level twenty as well.

I’m sure I’ll have enough time to get the Holy Resistance up before the other system gets here, Derek thought as he arrived in Stonehelm once again to meet with Shaemus. I have a few ideas on how to level it. He’d talked with some people, and once he picked up his armor, Derek planned on going to Indria, to an elven clan that specialized in holy magic.

His first thought was to go to the Allister family, but they didn’t actually use holy magic. Instead, they used light magic—which was not the same. So, after realizing that, Derek asked around and was pointed in the right direction by Osian. Maybe leveling it up will be easier than I thought, he thought internally before looking around and seeing an irritated Darius sitting on his throne.

“Shaemus wants you to meet him at his smithy this time, not the academy,” the king said as soon as Derek closed his portal.

“Okay,” Derek replied. “That is… where?”

“I will lead you there.” The same dwarf who took him to the academy previously stepped forward and nodded.

Derek only nodded back, and soon, he found himself once again being led through the city by the king’s adviser. Shaemus’s smithy wasn’t far away from the academy. In fact, it was just a bit behind it. So, they soon arrived, and the adviser dismissed himself—leaving Derek standing in front of the doors to the shop.

Derek looked at the retreating back of the dwarf and shrugged. Then he placed his hand on the door—which had a ‘closed’ sign on it—and pushed. Surprisingly, the door wasn’t locked, and he was able to step inside.

“Lock the door behind you,” Shaemus shouted from somewhere in the building as soon as Derek stepped in.

Derek shrugged and locked the door before taking another step. Just then, the bald dwarf walked through a door and greeted Derek with a bow—one that was much too formal for Derek.

“So?” Derek asked, cutting to the chase.

“Oh,” Shaemus raised his head, and Derek saw the gleam in his eyes. “You’re not going to believe what we made.” The man couldn’t keep the massive grin off his face. “Hurry! Come back here.”

“Okay…” Derek nodded and followed the man. If the ‘best’ smith on the continent is this excited over a set of armor, just what exactly did he make? He couldn’t help but wonder.

“So,” Shaemus started while they walked, “for some reason, I just had a feeling about this particular set of armor, so I decided to use some materials that we’d been saving for centuries.”

“Centuries?” Derek asked. “How long do dwarves live, anyway?”

“Oh, I’m not really the one who has been saving it, just its current owner.” Shaemus waved Derek’s question away while they continued on. “The material has been in my family since long before even my father was born. Every one of us has tried to create something with it, but it always comes out as just a bit better than a usual legendary piece. The slight upgrade isn’t worth the waste of the material. That’s why each smith has only tried once—and only once they felt like their skills were at their peak.”

This tale has been unlawfully lifted from Royal Road; report any instances of this story if found elsewhere.

“I see,” Derek said. “And what is it? The material?”

“Well, that’s the thing,” Shaemus said. “We’ve never been able to fully Identify it, but it seems to be some scales and skin from a snake or some sort of dragonkin. My great-great-great-grandfather found it at the top of one of our mountains a long time ago. At least, that’s how the story goes.”

“That’s cool,” Derek said. I wonder if it was from a wyvern or something evolving and reaching mythic rank. Would it ascend just like we do? He wondered, then asked, “And you decided to use it for my armor?”

“Yes!” Shaemus replied. “The stuff was very similar to the materials we received from you, so I thought that they might be more compatible than the usual materials I tried to combine with them. That’s why we only ever try to craft with it once—to save it for future generations—but I couldn’t help but try again.”

“Well…” Derek muttered. “That was kind of you.”

“Honestly,” Shaemus said as he opened another door, and they walked into a room with a bunch of armor sets on display. “I think we would have ended up with the usual, but when you channeled all that void energy into it… I think it changed something.”

“Really?” Derek asked. “Why do you say that?”

“It’s just a blacksmith’s hunch,” Shaemus said. “It may have turned out the same without it, but I really do think your energy played a big part.”

Finally, the two arrived at a display mannequin in the center of the room—the thing had a white sheet over it. All the talk about it being different and the family treasures that Shaemus used to make it had put Derek on edge—in a good way. As they made their way there, he had gotten more and more excited about it.

“Derek,” Shaemus said seriously. “With your strength, I’m sure you know all about the two requirements for advancement?” the smith asked, then chuckled. “Well… since I was able to ask you like that without any warning, I know you do.”

“Of course,” Derek said.

“I… just met my second,” Shaemus said.

“Really?” The smith’s statement actually distracted Derek from the armor. So… another person has reached this point. I wonder how long this world went without anyone ascending, now… there are three people advancing inside of one year? Derek nodded at the smith and said, “Then you will be ascending soon?”

“Yes, I will,” Shaemus said. He had both a look of excitement and one of sadness in his eyes. “I… I’m not sure how I feel, but as someone who has dedicated my entire life to my craft, I can’t help but be excited.”

“Do you… have a family?” Derek asked.

“I do,” Shaemus said. “But I am old—even if I don’t look it. My wife passed seven years ago. She was younger, but did not have the vitality of a smith like I do. My son is an instructor at the academy, and my grandson and granddaughter are both up-and-coming smiths. They have a lot of talent. My daughter is also quite talented, though it is unfortunate that I won’t see her marry, or meet her children if she ever has any…”

“I see…” Derek said.

“This… opportunity… couldn’t have come at a better time,” Shaemus said. “I am saddened that I will have to leave them, but, in reality, I only have a decade or two left as it is. This is something that I cannot… and would not… pass up. My son and grandchildren all understand. Who would have thought that I would get to have one last unknown adventure right at the end of my life?”

“So… are you leaving straight away?” Derek asked.

“No,” Shaemus said. “There is a… count…” he looked at Derek, and his eyes widened. “There’s a countdown to ascension. I plan on spending as much time with my family—teaching them everything that I can—before I go…” The man paused. “You are also on the countdown?”

“Something like that,” Derek answered.

“And you are still here because of whatever it is that you have been warning us about?” Shaemus realized without any help.

“Yup,” Derek said with a sigh. “And it needs to hurry up.”

“Indeed…” Shaemus said. “That seems to be the case…” The smith sighed. “I want to see my family safe before I have to leave them.”

“I know the feeling,” Derek said.

“Well, let me show you what is going to help you… help us… with that.” Shaemus perked up once again, then reached out, grabbed the sheet, and pulled it off the armor.

Whoa… Derek thought as he examined the armor up and down. “It looks heavy?” he asked.

“Yeah,” Shaemus replied. “It is very flexible dragon scale forged into scale-shaped plates. I also took some horns, bones, and fangs to complete the aesthetics—though the materials did much more than just that. Its connection to you will allow you to move as you wish in it… though, yes, it is quite heavy.” The man looked Derek up and down. “But I don’t think you’re going to have any problems because of the weight.”

“Yeah,” Derek replied. “I don’t have to worry about that.” The armor before him looked like something out of a video game. It had black scales layered on top of each other, with small, jagged bone spikes coming out of the shoulders, forearms, thighs, and shins. Dark, vein-like patterns ran throughout the set. Just being close to it, Derek could feel a light, dreadful aura coming off of it.

“Once you name it and put it on, the aura should dissipate,” Shaemus said. “It’s just waiting for its owner.”

“Is it… alive?” Derek asked with a frown.

“No, no…” Shaemus chuckled. “It’s armor. Of course it’s not alive. It just needs to be bound, and only you can bind it.”

“Oh,” Derek laughed. “I see.”

“Well,” Shaemus began. “Go ahead. Put it on.”

“You don’t have to ask me twice,” Derek said. He then took each piece from the mannequin and began equipping it one piece at a time. He thought about just storing it in his storage bracelet, then summoning it onto his body, but he figured that the first time was something special and that he should equip it the right way.

The armor, with its wyvern hide lining, fit him perfectly snug—all the way up to the vambraces and down to the greaves. It seemed that the armor didn’t come with gauntlets, boots, or a helm, but Derek wasn’t worried about that. He already had a pair of boots with their own special effect, and he was sure that they were legendary or higher already. All he really knew about them was that they were created by using Starfury Leonaris materials, which was at least a legendary beast.

“Looks great!” Shaemus said as Derek finished putting everything on.

Derek looked down and saw the patterns glowing purple. So… I need to name it like I did Harbinger then? he thought. If I called my glaive Harbinger because it is a harbinger of destruction… armor is made to protect me… so… Derek looked up at Shaemus, who was looking at him expectantly. He smiled, then said, “I think I’ll call it Void’s Embrace.”

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