System Change

The gear inside the store was better than anything he had ever seen. Of course, back on Earth, nobody had even hit level 100 before he was trapped in the void. His old armor and glaive were actually top of the line at that time.

Unfortunately, most of the gear in the shop, although high, was for adventurer with much lower stats than himself. If Derek was a regular person with a rare class at level 150, the items would have been great. However, his skin, muscles, and bones were already more durable than any armor he had examined in the shop.

After sighing for the umpteenth time, Derek spotted a glaive in the corner. Walking over, he grabbed it and closed his eyes. It felt good in his hands. He did a couple of practice swings and thrusts as a smile broke out on his face. He had to admit, the glaive was much better than Glaivey, but was still unsuitable for his stats.

“You like glaives?” Jacks walked up next to him.

Derek nodded. “Yeah, it’s where my mastery is at.”

That caused a surprised expression to appear on Jacks’s face. “You’re saying that you’re better with a weapon than you are with your fists?”

Derek chuckled. “Yeah, much better. Unfortunately, I haven’t run across anyone who can make something that meets my requirements.” He explained. Hopefully, that will change once Alanah auctions off the Void Beasts. At the rate my stats increase, I don’t know how long anything will last me.

It was one of the downsides he encountered because of his cheat-like stats. It was also the reason he had taken up fighting with his hands instead of any weapon. Derek sighed and put the glaive back on its stand.

“What, my weapons not good ‘nuf for yas?” A deep voice sounded out from behind the duo.

Derek looked over to see a dwarf, this time male, walking over towards them in a huff. The dwarf had a black beard that extended all the way down to his belly that was knotted in the end, and braided black hair that split into two tails to fall over his shoulders. His tunic was stained with charcoal, along with what parts of his face Derek could make out.

Derek plastered a smile on his face and nodded. “I’m not bashing your work. It’s truly of great quality. Actually, it’s some of the best I’ve ever seen. Unfortunately, nothing in here can provide me with more protection than my own skin, and nothing can increase my offensive ability more than what my fists already do.” He explained.

“That true?” The dwarf asked Jacks.

“I believe so.”

The smith snorted. “Don’t blame me for not believing ya.”

Derek laughed and held out his arm. “Go ahead.”

Without asking a question or anything, the dwarf grabbed the glaive from the shelf and swung it down at Derek’s forearm… hard. The blade hit his skin, bit in slightly, then cracked. When the dwarf pulled the blade away, a single drop of blood fell from Derek’s arm before healing before his eyes.

The dwarf snorted as he examined the slight crack in the glaive. Then, he tossed it across the room and it landed in a bucket that said ‘failed and damaged weapons, 75% off.’

Finally, the dwarf turned back around, all smiles. “Ye must be a helluva tank.” He reached out to Derek for a handshake. “Me name’s Carrie. Nice to meet ya.”

Derek took his hand and shook it. “Derek, Derek Hunt.”

“Aye…” Carrie sighed. “Yer a bit out of my level, I’m ‘fraid. Nothin’ here’s gonna suit ya, and I can’t make ya anything custom ‘cus I ain’t got the right materials or expertise.”

Derek smiled. “No need to apologize. I wasn’t expecting to buy anything, anyway. I just heard you were a great smith, so while I was in the area, I decided to come check out your shop. Do you make all your items here?”

The dwarf nodded. “Sure do. The smithy’s downstairs.”

“You mind if I take a look?”

Carrie eyed Derek. “What for?”

Derek waved him off. “I’m buying one of the new lots and plan on putting in a basement. I don’t have any ulterior motives. I just wanted to see what a professional blacksmith’s smithy looked like. If it’s too much, pretend like I didn’t even ask.”

The dwarf narrowed his eyes, then smiled. “Ya know, it’s rude to ask a dwarf to see his smithy.” He then waved it off. “But I don’t mind so much… long as I’m not makin’ something secret or whatnot.”

“That’s great.” Derek said.

“Aye, Cindy!” The dwarf yelled to the female dwarf at the sales counter, causing her to look up from placing a dagger in a display case. “I’m showin’ our guests the smithy. If ya need me, holler.”

“Like I’d need yer crusty arse up here helping me. Yer more likely to cause problems up ‘ere. Should get back down there where ya belong.” She yelled back.

Carrie smiled. “That one is crazy for me.” He whispered so his wife couldn’t here him. “Follow me.”

The dwarf let the two men through the shop and into a room at the back. “Planned on movin’ further into the city once we started makin’ a profit, but ended up not needing to. Had a whole plan for another floor an’ everything. Turned out, all I needed was to sell quality weapons and armor, so we didn’t need more space.” He talked while he led them to the stairs to the basement.

“Still got plenty of room since it’s jus’ Cindy an’ me. Even got an extra room if’n our son chooses to grace us with his presence.” He continued. “It’s down ‘ere.”

Derek and Jacks followed the smith down a short flight of stairs, only to end up in a basement that was much smaller than expected, it couldn’t have been much bigger than 12 x12 feet. In fact, Derek only had a couple inches of clearance between the ceiling and his head.

“That’s good.” The dwarf said. “Wasn’t sure if the two of ya would fit.” He laughed. “There weren’t no sense in making something more than what I needed since we planned to move, and still ain’t had a reason to expand it since we decided to stay.”

“Makes sense.” Derek said.

“Whelp, waddaya think?” The smith asked.

Derek looked around the small room. In the corner was a forge that was slightly shorter than he was used to seeing. A couple feet from that was an anvil. There was also a workbench close to it. To Derek’s surprise, the room was well organized.

On the wall were multiple smithing tools, from hammers to tongs, all hanging in order from small to large. Other than that, there wasn’t much else in the room.

“How do you not suffocate?” Derek asked. Obviously, the fire and smoke produced by the forge would not do well in such a small space.

“Pretty basic runes.” The dwarf said as he walked past Derek and to the forge. Then he placed his hand on the wall beside it. A rune lit up and blue lines traveled up the wall to a larger rune on the ceiling. “This rune cycles the air. Pulls the smoke out and pushes fresh air back in. It’s connected to another rune on the roof of the shop.”

There really is a rune for everything. Derek didn’t bother to ask about the lights, as he already recognized them as working the same as the lights he’d seen on the streets yesterday. Only, instead of being connected to a timer, he was sure there was a rune somewhere on the wall that could toggle them on or off.

“It’s nice.” Derek said. “I mean, it’s a lot smaller than what I expected, especially considering the number and quality of items upstairs. If it’s good enough to craft all of that, then I don’t see a problem.”

Jacks nodded. “Indeed.”

“That’s what I keep sayin’, but Cindy keeps naggin’ me to expand it. Don’t see the need myself.” The dwarf said.

Derek walked over to the wall holding all the smithing tools. He didn’t dare touch them. Instead, he leaned in and examined them. “What would it cost for you to make me a full set of smithing tools?”

“Well, I don’t normally do that.” The dwarf said. “It’s always best for a smith to craft their own tools.”

Derek nodded. “I understand that, but you need tools to craft tools.” Derek said.

“That’s not necessarily true, but I get what yer sayin’.” The dwarf walked over to his workbench and began rummaging through what Derek only suspected was a junk drawer. “There it is.” The smith pulled out a storage ring.

Soon, a full set of tools, not nearly as good as what was hanging on the wall, were lying on the floor. “That’s it, ‘ere we are.” He said as he finished pulling out a pair of tongs. “I knew I hadn’t thrown ‘em away yet.” The smith said. “These are my tools I used to get to level 50. 60 gold an they’re yers.”

“You sure?” Derek asked. “They don’t hold any sentimental value?”

The dwarf scoffed. “What value would a smith’s third set of tools hold? I just forgot to melt them down. Wifey says I got a bad habit of tossin’ things I don’t need in storage rings, then forgettin’ bout them.”

Derek wondered what was in the other storage rings inside the junk drawer. Also, how many storage rings did this smith have? Derek glimpsed at least seven inside the junk drawer. He put the thoughts out of his head before pulling out 60 gold and laying it on the workbench.

The dwarf scooped the gold up before laying out a mat on the floor and rolling the tools up in it. He handed the bundle of tools to Derek. “Thanks for doin’ business.”

The bundle disappeared inside his bracelet. “Thank you.” Derek said. “Well, we should probably get out of here. Got to buy that property before someone else snatches it up.”

“Aye.” The dwarf agreed. “Never know how long something’s going to last.” With that, the smith led them back to the store. “Don’t be a stranger.” He said before seeing them out.

“Don’t worry. I’m about to send a kid to the Academy.” Derek said. “I plan on getting him some gear before sending him off. He’s been wearing and training in makeshift armor for now. Going to need to find a good Leathersmith for that, but I’ll come back here to get his weapon.”

The dwarf’s eyes shined. “Lookin’ forward to makin’ it. Might want to order it sooner than later, though. I have a backlog of custom orders.”

Derek nodded. “I’ll be back soon.”