System Change

“But seriously,” Braxton lost his smile and said, “If you don’t mind, I would like the jug of Wyvern Brew. I’ve gotten some ideas that I would like to test. As dangerous as the brew is, I think it could also be of great benefit.”

“How so?” Derek asked. More than anything, he feared how easy it might be to become addicted or die from it. That is… if we can even become addicted to things anymore—especially at a medium wisdom or higher. He actually wasn’t sure. Yes, he’d say that Edgar was addicted to training, Avery was addicted to fighting, and even Brandi was addicted to crafting, but they weren’t truly.

“I saw you meditating with it,” Braxton said. “Right?”

“Yes,” Derek replied with a nod.

“Then you should understand how hard it is to level meditation skills up after a certain point,” Braxton explained.

“Yeah,” Derek said. “It’s a pain in the ass.”

“It is,” Braxton replied. “However, if you use it while in battle, it will level at a slightly higher pace.”

“Which is true for pretty much all skills,” Derek said.

“Exactly,” Braxton replied. “But imagine if you were ‘poisoned’ with this brew—especially if you had no idea it was coming. I imagine that it would be possible to level meditation skills at a very fast pace—compared to how slow they level currently.”

“Mhm…” Derek nodded. “I can see that. And if you drink a skill potion before that, or even go spar while the pattern is on your chest…”“Yes!” Braxton replied. “Not only is this one of the greatest drinks I’ve had in my life—even compared to the king’s ale. But it could be used as a fantastic training aid. However, I need to know more about it before deciding. Like, will the pattern eventually go away on its own? Or is it something that will stay there, eating away at the person until it is completely pushed back with Meditation or a healing potion?”

“Those are good questions,” Derek replied.

“And the levels one would rapidly gain in their toxic or poison resistance-type skills would be crazy,” Braxton explained. “Now, we would need to know if it works the same on a level 100 as it does on a level 250, but if it does…this would be a great potion for the little man to attach his name to. Just not as a brew, but as a training aid.”

“Leave it to a Guild Leader of the Assassin’s Guild to think of a way to turn something like this into a training aid,” Derek said. Though, I was thinking about different uses, and would have landed on the same thing eventually, he thought to himself.

“Us Guild Leaders…most of us Guild Leaders are always looking for a way to make the guild more efficient,” Braxton said. “And if I’m retiring soon, this would be a great final boon to the guild.”

“You’re retiring soon?” Derek asked.

“Oh, yes!” Braxton said excitedly. “I’ve been trying to retire for decades now. But I can feel it. Somebody’s going to challenge me and put up a good enough fight that I can leave the leadership to them.”

“I…see…” Derek muttered. “So…you’re not retiring anytime soon, are you?”

With a sigh, Braxton deflated, then muttered, “No…likely not. But a dwarf can dream, can’t he?”

“And what is your dream?”

“This!” The dwarf gestured to his surroundings with open arms.

“You want to…open a bar?” Derek asked.

“Of course not!” Braxton replied. “I want to sit here all day, every day, and drink to my heart’s content! And I want to do it without having to check in at the guild or go kill someone too strong for anyone else to take out—though, that is always fun.”

“Oh.” Derek snorted. “Why not choose someone with the potential to grow stronger than you instead of waiting for them to be able to beat you? Giving that position early on may light a fire under them and cause them to grow stronger faster. Hell, it may even cause the system to give them a better class and allow them to not only gain strength faster but also make them able to gain strength more efficiently.”

“That is true,” Braxton said. “It is something that I’ve thought about in the past. But the guild is cutthroat. The second that I put a whelp with potential in a leadership role, they will be challenged by someone who happens to be stronger at the time, and all of my hard work will be for naught.”

“That’s an easy fix!” Derek said.

“How so?” Braxton raised his eyebrows.

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“Just make a new position,” Derek said. “You have Guild Leaders and Vice Leaders already, so, you could create a sort of leadership trainee position. You’ll still be Guild Leader, and all challenges will need to go through you, but for all the other tasks, pawn them off… uhem… give them to the trainee for training. Just let everyone know that any leadership trainees are under your protection while in the position, and that it’s a position that can only be given out by a current sitting Guild Leader.”

“Huh…” Braxton scratched his chin underneath his beard. “It’s pretty simple, but it would be worth trying. Some members may take it as a slight and try to assassinate whoever I choose, though.”

“Then you assassinate them…with your giant hammer… in front of everyone,” Derek said.

“I could definitely do that,” Braxton said.

“And, to start things off, don’t pick the person that you think would be best,” Derek explained.

“Why not?”

“Well, you need time to see how the guild reacts,” Derek said. “You don’t want the best person to be assassinated right at the beginning, do you?”

“No, definitely not,” the dwarf replied.

“And it will give you an opportunity to fire the person and select a new one later—showing that it’s not a position that will for sure produce a leader in the future,” Derek said.

“I will give it a try,” Braxton said. “I would be able to get more time off by doing that, too. And Nyx could take notes and report on the trainee. I would literally have to do nothing but fight and kill again, and, in between fighting and killing, I could come here!”

“You’re not the smartest Guild Leader, are you?” Derek finally asked.

“Of course not! I have my moments, but compared to Nyx and Mara…not even close,” Braxton said. “Why do you ask?”

“No reason, really…” Derek replied with a chuckle. He noticed that he did not add Maven to the list of leaders who were smarter than him. “Just thought that this is something that you should have been able to think up. And definitely something that Nyx should have thought up.”

“I’m sure he would have, if he ever had a need for it,” Braxton responded. “He may have mentioned something like this to me before, too…but I don’t remember.”

“Oh, that makes sense,” Derek said. Especially since Braxton seems like the type to care about battle prowess over everything else. He’d definitely want someone who could fight to take his position instead of someone smart and scheming. The three leaders are actually pretty balanced now that I think about it, Derek thought, already crossing off Maven as a leader.

Braxton had strength—a ton of it, apparently. Nyx was very information focused, smart, and strategic, and it seemed like Mara was relatively bright, but also good with poisons and killing in indirect manners. If he really wanted to not leave the fourth leader out, then he’d say that Maven was a schemer. They all balanced out.

“Today is a great day!” Braxton pulled a jug of the other brew out of his storage ring and brought it up like a toast. “Today, I semi-retire!” He took a massive drink of the brew. “Well…maybe not today, but very, very soon. I’m sure it will take Nyx a few days to give me a good list of candidates.”

Of course, he’s going to rely on Nyx to do all the heavy lifting. Derek laughed internally. “Congratulations on your semi-retirement,” Derek said.

“Thank you!” Braxton replied, then slapped Derek across his bare back with his giant hand. “You’re quite the fellow. I don’t know why Maven would be so dumb. Should have just had a drink with you.”

“Idiots will be idiots,” Derek said as he rolled his shoulders to get rid of the stinging pain in the center of his back. The slap didn’t do much damage, but damn, did it sting.

“Yes, he will,” Braxton laughed. “It’s a shame that Nyx is going to have to find two new Guild Leaders at the same time. Poor guy always gets all the hard work.”

“Well… I mean… you could…”

“No!” Braxton replied. “I couldn’t.”

“Fine,” Derek said with a chuckle.

“That’s painstakingly boring work,” the dwarf said. “I already went above and beyond by reading Nyx’s reports about you. That’s how I found out about this place.” Braxton frowned and furrowed his brow. “Maybe I should start reading more of the reports…” he muttered, then shook his head harshly and took another drink. “No, this was a one in a million find.” The dwarf took one last gulp from his jug, then hopped off the barstool. Then he turned to Derek. “Derek! It has been a pleasure meeting you during such ideal circumstances. We have to do it again.”

“It was nice meeting you, too,” Derek said with a chuckle.

“Next time I get my hands on more of the king’s ale…I’ll share some with you,” Braxton said after some hesitation.

“I’m looking forward to it,” Derek replied. “Also, take this.” He reached forward and grabbed the jug of the Wyvern Brew. Roman could always make more, and Braxton had some decent ideas and ways to test them that Derek did not have. Derek shuttered thinking about Braxton slipping some of the brew to one of the other Guild Leaders for ‘training.’

“Really?” Braxton asked with wide eyes.

“Of course,” Derek said.

“Hurry and store it, or the jug will go bad,” Roman said from behind the bar. “And when you get back to…the Assassin’s Guild…” the halfling alchemist gulped. “When you get back, have someone recharge the rune, and maybe look for someone who can create a jug that can actually carry it.” He paused for a moment. “If you can, make a few of them, just in case.”

“Will do!” Braxton replied happily, then stored the jug away. “Thank you, little man!”

“…You’re welcome…” Roman replied.

“Now, don’t you make Maven boy wait too long,” Braxton said after turning back to Derek.

“Don’t worry,” Derek said. “I won’t.”

“I hear that the day after tomorrow is going to be a pretty good day for killing,” Braxton said with a smile. “We’ll all be going back to our branch headquarters to check in.”

“I see,” Derek said. That meant that, while there would probably still be many people around, none of the other Guild Leaders would be there. They also wouldn’t be obligated to step in and do anything if they weren’t there. “That does seem like a good day.”

“It is, indeed,” the dwarf assassin replied. “Please tell Vanessa that I said hello,” he said. “And if you don’t mind, float her the idea of becoming a Guild Leader. Just in case. If she doesn’t want to replace Maven, then there is always my seat. It would be weird for a human to govern over the Vallum branch, but I doubt anyone would complain.”

“Like I said before, I doubt she’d even consider it,” Derek replied. “But I’ll let her know, anyway.”

“Great!” Braxton said. Then he turned to leave before turning back and looking at Roman. “Little man, it’s been a pleasure finally getting to know you, too. I’ll see you soon!”

“…See you soon…” Roman replied in an almost hushed voice.

Braxton laughed loudly, then kicked open the door and walked out.

“Interesting dwarf…” Derek said.

“That’s one way to put it,” Roman replied. “What now?”

“Well…” Derek started. “I don’t think it would hurt to make another jug of the Wyvern Brew…”