System Change

Derek once again stepped into the void. This time, however, he carried Silvi on his shoulder and shielded all her storage items with his own thin layer of void instead of carrying her around inside a pot. After letting out what was probably the world’s deadliest ‘burp,’ Silvi was able to move around quite a bit better at the moment. Though her body was still quite stiff to the touch and her muscles were extended, she no longer looked like she was about to explode.

Once inside the void, Derek closed his eyes and turned his Void Sense up a couple of notches. When he opened his eyes afterward, all the nearby auras were clearly visible for him to see. There you are, he thought as he locked onto a specific aura that seemed a bit distant from all the other ones. Interesting, he thought. Doesn’t seem like he’s with anyone else today.

With that in mind, Derek moved forward until he was standing just over the aura. Like always, he reached out and ripped the space in the void open and walked out—making sure to close the space behind him to prevent any accidents from occurring.

“Oi!” a brash voice sounded out as soon as Derek stepped through the void. “Derek Hunt! To what do I owe the honor? Did you bring some more of that Wyvern Brew?”

“That… I did not,” Derek said as he looked around the room. After taking everything in, he frowned. “What the hell is all of this?” Braxton was sitting with a mug in his hand as always with his massive warhammer propped up on the chair beside him, but in front of him was what looked to be another dwarf—however, motionless. Derek took a step closer to get a better look. No… not motionless… dead, he thought.

“Well…” Braxton said. “You sort of walked in on an execution.”

“An execution?” Derek asked rhetorically, after which he examined the body of the likely dead corpse. “Did you…”

“Mhm…” Braxton nodded, then, seeing Derek was about to protest, continued, “Now don’t get so frazzled.” The dwarf took a long draw from his mug. “Been wanting to see what would happen once the etchings were completed, and I certainly didn’t want to be the test subject myself.”

“You… used it for an execution? The Wyvern Brew?”

“Aye!” Braxton said happily. “But don’t you worry. This man deserved it. Picked him out from a bunch of death row criminals, I did. Didn’t want to just… use it on someone normal person and all. You know… bet to not piss the man who gave the brew to me off…” Braxton looked at Derek in the eyes. “At least… not too much.”Derek didn’t like it—Braxton using the brew as a poison. But he couldn’t say that he wasn’t interested in the results. And it’s not like I didn’t do the same with my Void Travel skill. Actually… him using someone like this as an experiment is probably more than I should have expected from an assassin. Wait… “Where did you get a death row criminal? Who made the decision that he was to be executed?”

“Huh?” Braxton tilted his head. “Man’s from the Vallum dungeons. Did a lot of murderizing of nice people and whatnot. He’s getting better than he deserved, too.”

“Getting?” Derek asked in confusion.

“Look at him!” Braxton said. “Look closely. He’s still alive. The etchings are complete, his face is twisted up in utter bliss, but he has yet to pass. The man is teetering on the edge of life and death.”

Derek did look closely after that. In fact, he even used Identify on the dwarf. Sure enough, the results came back that the man was neither deceased nor was he even in a Dying State. “So… the brew doesn’t kill once complete? That doesn’t make sense.”

“I don’t know,” Braxton said. “That’s why this is so interesting, is it not?”

“What are your theories?” Derek asked. He knew he should really get to why he was there in the first place, but he couldn’t help but want to know.

“I think… he is trapped in a cycle of unending bliss,” Braxton said as he took another big gulp of whatever concoction was in his mug. “This is probably heaven for a dwarf.” He looked over the man once again. “One that will eventually turn into hell.”

“Too much of a good thing…” Derek muttered.

“Exactly!” Braxton said. “The only question is whether he will live or die once the effects wear off. All I know is that this is the happiest I’ve ever seen anyone during their own execution. If he pulls through, just imagine the willpower gain. And, you can’t tell, but I had him enter Meditation before giving him a drink.”

“I see…” Derek said. The man had told him he had some ideas to test with the brew, after all. “And what happens if he pulls through?” Derek asked.

“Then he gets to meet my hammer,” Braxton said.

“No pardon if he lives?” Derek asked with a raised brow.

“For the likes of him?” Braxton asked rhetorically. “No, none at all.”

“Then why would he even go along with all this?” Derek asked. “What does he gain? Or did you force the brew down his throat?”

This tale has been pilfered from Royal Road. If found on Amazon, kindly file a report.

“No, he drank it willingly,” Braxton said. “Imagine… a death row dwarf refusing to have one final drink? That’s simply impossible. And before you ask, yes, he knew that it was going to kill him… probably. I may have taken a sip before him just to show how good it was, too…”

“Oh…”

“Now…” Braxton let out a huge yawn. “What is it that brings you here? Doesn’t seem like you’re bringing more brew. Did you come to drink?” The man’s eyes lit up. “Nothing better than a good drinking buddy. I have some interesting brews to test if you would like.”

“No…” Derek said. “I didn’t come to drink. At least not right now.” His eyes drifted back to the statuesque dwarf in the room. “You were saying that you’re able to get some of that ‘King’s Brew’ from Vallum, right?”

“Yes…” Braxton narrowed his eyes. “But I don’t have much left.” His free hand covered a storage ring on his finger reflexively.

“Relax,” Derek said with a chuckle. “I’m not here to steal your brew.”

“Oh… whew…” Braxton let out a sigh, then finished draining his mug before storing it away. “Should have led with that. Had me worried. In that case, what can I do for you?”

“Well, seeing as how you’re able to get such a thing from Vallum, I can only assume that you have connections there, yeah?” Derek asked.

“You’d be safe to assume that,” Braxton said with a nod.

“In that case, would you be able to introduce me to an armorsmith that can create legendary armor?” Derek asked.

“For you…” Braxton muttered and tapped on his chin. “I think I could help you there. If you have the materials and the money… and the brew… I think a deal could be struck to make you a good set of armor. It may take a while to fit you in, though. The smiths I know are always quite busy.”

“That…” Derek started. “How do I put this? I need multiple sets of legendary armor for multiple people, and I need them fast.” He also looked Braxton up and down. “And if you don’t already, you should think about getting as high-quality armor as possible for yourself.” Derek thought about something for a moment, then continued, “In fact, if there are enough materials and you don’t already have armor or weapons of such quality, you can use some of them to get it made.”

“Strange…” Braxton said as he pulled out another mug of some concoction and took a drink. “Offering materials to equip me… needing armor for multiple people… is the other continent planning on invading us soon or something?” the man finally asked.

“No…” Derek said. “Not that I know of… but… we’re probably looking at something much worse than that. And no, it’s not something I can explain.” Derek looked up, like he was looking through the ceiling, and said, “You know, system rules and all that.”

“Oh…” Braxton said. “Then you are completely serious about all this. You don’t just want the armor… you need it.”

“I don’t know if I need it, but it would certainly help,” Derek said.

“Interesting,” the dwarf said as he took a long, deep drink from his mug. Finally, he let out a bellowing laugh.

“What?” Derek asked.

“It’s nothing much,” Braxton said. “I feel like I should be scared shitless if you are coming to me, asking for these things, and unable to give a reason because the Great System won’t allow it.”

“Well…” Derek said. “You feeling is probably correct.”

“That’s great!” Braxton said as he reached behind him and hefted his warhammer. “Sounds like I’m going to be in for a good fight.” He looked at Derek with squinted eyes. “Unless we’re looking at others of your strength?”

“I can’t say,” Derek said with a shrug. He actually couldn’t say on that, whether the system would allow him to or not. He had no clue who the strongest person they may end up fighting would be.

“In that case,” Braxton said. “You don’t need to worry about my weapon or armor. They are just about as good as one can get in Vallum. Can only think of a couple people with any weapons or armor better than those I have.”

“That’s good,” Derek said. And it was. That meant that it was one less ‘quality’ fighter that needed new weapons and armor to assist them. Now, Derek had never seen the man fight, but just the fact that the man was considered the strongest ‘assassin’ on the entire continent meant he had to be up there when it came to strength. He imagined Braxton had to be on the same level as Avery or Edgar, or maybe even Marrick or close to Alanah even. He wouldn’t know for sure until he finally saw the man in action.

“Hup!” Braxton muttered as he hopped up from his seat. After that, he moved his warhammer to his back and placed it there. “Now that that’s all settled, I guess I should take you to meet a smith or two,” the dwarf said. “May have to knock some sense into them to get them to work—that or get them some good ale. A taste of the Wyvern Brew may do it, too. But I’m sure we can figure something out.”

“Great!” Derek said. He was very happy that Braxton seemed to be taking everything in stride. He wasn’t sure what to expect when he decided to go to the dwarf assassin. The man had seemed pretty easy going before, so he was glad that it didn’t seem to be a ruse.

“You don’t mind if I tell Nyx about this, do you?” Braxton asked. “I know there’s not much to tell, but just about this whole… situation?”

“Go ahead,” Derek said. “The more prepared everyone is, the better. In fact, I was going to suggest you tell him, anyway.”

“Good,” Braxton said with a nod. After that, he pulled a communication crystal out of his storage ring and began channeling mana into it before stopping and putting it away a few seconds later. The duo waited around for a minute or two, then a door opened, and another dwarf rushed in.

“Guild Leader!” The dwarf saluted.

“None of that now, Jerrod,” Braxton said. “We’re all friends here. No need to put on formalities for Derek here.” He then turned to Derek. “Derek, this is Jerrod. He is one of my ‘Leaders in Training.’”

“Oh?” Derek raised his brow. “You work pretty fast.” It wasn’t too long ago that Derek had suggested that Braxton create some training positions, and it seemed that the man had taken it all to heart.

“Of course!” Braxton replied. “Anything to be able to retire sooner.” After that, he turned his attention back to his trainee. “Jerrod,” he said.

“Sir?”

“Don’t… you know what? Never mind,” Braxton said. “I need you to stay here with our…” he looked at the statue-like dwarf in the middle of the room. “With our guest…” he said. “Me and my friend here have some important business in Vallum. So, I need you to take note of everything that happens. If he survives, make sure to take down all the information about his experience with the brew. If he doesn’t… send the body to Mara’s people for research.”

“And if he lives and I’ve gotten the information?” Jerrod asked.

“Either you can execute him in my stead, or you can wait for me to get back. The decision is yours,” Braxton said. “It’s a learning experience, after all.”

“Yes, sir!” Jerrod said with another salute and nod, to which Braxton rolled his eyes.

“Now, I take it you don’t have the ability to open up your portal thingy in Stonehelm, do you?” Braxton asked Derek.

“That’s the capital of Vallum, right?” Derek asked, and when Braxton nodded confirmation, Derek shook his head. “No.”

“Then it looks like we’re going the old-fashioned way,” Braxton said, then began walking towards the door that Jerrod had entered from. “Come on, follow me. No telling how hard it’s going to be dealing with those cranky assholes. Better get a start on it soon.”