System Change

“Are you sure you want me to make another?” Roman asked. “Those debuffs are very dangerous. And if they affect someone like that dwarf as much as they did, I can’t imagine many people would survive the damage over time.”

“If nothing else, then I’ll just have a nice, refreshing beverage to drink for dinner,” Derek said with a chuckle. “We’ll wait and see how Braxton’s tests go before we do anything else with it.” He then looked back at the door that the dwarf had exited from. “That dwarf… I still don’t know if he’s a good guy or a bad guy. I really can’t get a read on him. I’ll say one thing, though… he is certainly interesting and entertaining—he’d be a good drinking buddy.”

“Yeah…” Roman muttered. Then, in a whisper, said, “I’m not sure how I feel about a leader of the Assassin’s Guild frequenting my bar. I feel like it may bring the wrong kind of attention and company.”

“I’m sure it will all be fine,” Derek replied. “Now, you don’t have to tell me, but… did you get anything good creating that potion… or poison, I guess?”

“Did I ever!” Roman’s entire attitude changed in an instant. “On top of the normal things that you would expect—like level and skill experience—I received a new Achievement.”

“Really?” Derek asked. “Was it specifically from creating the new brew?”

“It was!” Roman said. “Well… kind of.”

“What do you mean?”

“The Achievement was for creating an unknown potion or poison out of the material from a legendary Draconic beast,” Roman explained.

“I see. So, you would have gotten it with anything, not just the brew…”“Exactly,” Roman replied with a nod.

“So, what does it do?” Derek asked. “If you don’t mind telling me.”

“I don’t mind at all!” Roman smiled with excitement. “It increases the potency of any potion or poison I make by ten percent. It may not sound like much, but that means that everything I make will be at least ten percent more effective than anything made by someone with the same skill level. That is a huge advantage in the potion market.”

“I can see that,” Derek said. “Why would someone buy a health potion that gives 1,000 health points back when they can get one that gives 1,100 back for the same price?”

“Exactly that!” Roman replied. “And there’s one more thing!”

“Really?” Derek asked. The ten percent increase already seemed like a lot for a crafting Achievement.

“Yes!” Roman replied happily. “That ten percent goes up to twenty percent when creating something with intense heat.”

“I imagine that is because of the ‘Draconic’ part of the Achievement?” Derek asked.

“It is,” Roman confirmed. “Though I have not yet been able to get that twenty percent yet.”

“Really?”

“Yeah,” Roman said with a sigh. “I need a better flame. I’ll have to go look for a Runesmith who can create something like that. There is no telling how intense the flame will have to be.”

“You could check in with Silvi sometime and borrow her for her dragon flame,” Derek said. “I’m sure she would help you.”

“Yeah… but at what cost?” Roman smiled wryly.

“Oh, probably just the shirt off your back and any ingredients that you may have that she hasn’t heard of,” Derek replied. “You know, the usual.”

“Yes… the usual,” Roman said, deadpanned. “I may have to go search for some flame attribute skills and try to find to combine with my Alchemist Flame that will make it burn even hotter.”

“Now that the three kingdoms are all linked, you’ll at least have a big market to look for a skill like that in,” Derek replied.

“That’s probably what I’ll do,” Roman said. “I’ll also have to adjust all my recipes to include such a flame. I would bet that I’ll be out of luck on some of the more basic potions. The ingredients are just too fragile to work with such a flame. But those basic recipes matter little. Ten percent is more than enough for them. But I am excited to make more advanced potions.”

“Speaking of hot flame,” Derek said. “What was the Achievement called?”

“It was called Draconic Infusion,” Roman replied. “It is quite the epic Achievement name.”

“It is,” Derek said. “Very epic.”

“It makes you wonder, though…” Roman said.

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“Wonder what?”

“Will all crafts gain something special from creating something with materials from a wyvern?”

“I never actually thought about that,” Derek said. “Well, I didn’t know that any would, so how could have I? But yes, that’s very interesting. I’d have to ask Tyron if he got one for creating my weapon and armor. But Silvi didn’t get one when she cooked up some dragon meat, so who knows? Maybe it is just certain crafts…”

“Or maybe the creation has to be something worthy of it,” Roman replied. “I can’t imagine just roasting a piece of meat would do the trick. That’d almost be like if I got it by creating a failed potion.”

“I can see that,” Derek replied. “If I remember, I’ll just ask Tyron next time I see him,” he said. Or I’ll just wait until Brandi starts making me some badass equipment. She’ll definitely make something worthy of the system giving her a new Achievement, he thought, but didn’t say. Wait… can Silvi even gain Achievements since she’s just a companion? She doesn’t have a list of them on her Status Sheet like I do. I bet that’s the reason. She supposedly made some awesome stuff that we’re going to have for dinner tonight. I imagine that would have done the job, too.

Oh, well… Derek shrugged. Once again, wondering if being bonded with him was taking away some opportunities to get stronger than she would have gotten otherwise. He’d never even thought about the Achievement situation. I guess she shares the ones I have with me, he thought. But that means that she won’t be able to get any for her true passion if it’s like I think it is.

“If he chooses to share it with you, and he is okay with it, I would be very interested in knowing as well,” Roman said. “Mine is actually an Achievement that can be upgraded…”

“Oh, really?” That caught Derek off guard.

“Yes, at least, it says that it is,” Roman replied. “However, it does not give me any of the conditions that must be met to upgrade. I suspect that it has to do with making more items from various different Draconic entities.”

“Makes sense…” Derek replied. “Well, we have quite a lot of materials from dragonkin. There are wyrm, amphithere, drake, and wyvern materials. I’m sure that there are other types of dragonkin out there, too. We just haven’t found them yet.” One thing that he hadn’t yet gotten his hands on was a real, live, ancient dragon. With the way the wyverns looked, he suspected that when he eventually fought one—if he eventually fought one—the ancient dragons would resemble what he pictured as a western dragon instead of an eastern one. Though he could be wrong.

“Mhm…” Roman nodded his head. “I have some materials from each type that you brought back. I look forward to experimenting with them. In fact, Freia is in the shop as we speak, brainstorming ideas of possible creations. One of the harder parts is making something that works with the element-type of the material. I got very luck with the dark, undead wyvern type.”

“Well, good luck with all of that. If there is anything you need from me, contact me through a communication crystal,” Derek said. “And if I’m not close enough for that, you can just leave a message with Malorie, and she’ll get it to me whenever I’m around.” He then stood from his stool. “I’ll give her a warning about the new brew, too. So if I’m not there to receive it, you can give it to her. I guess… only make one more jug for now until we see how Braxton uses it.”

“Will do,” Roman said. He then turned around and looked until he found his worker. “Hey! The bar is yours to watch for the time being. You know the drill.”

“Got it,” the bartender said as he walked forward and took his place behind the bar. He’d been hovering around and getting other customers drinks while Derek, Braxton, and Roman were busy.

“I’m heading back to my lab,” Roman said, with a glimmer in his eyes. “There is just so much I need to do now.” The halfling raised part of the counter, then walked through. “I’ll have that brew to you soon,” he said to Derek as he walked by. “So very much to do…” he muttered as he passed by Derek, then walked out the door.

“Huh…” Derek muttered. “He didn’t even say goodbye.” He laughed, then followed the halfling out. By the time he was outside, Roman was already a good way down the street. Since they were heading to different places, Derek turned and left toward his shop. It seems that I also have quite a bit to do here in a couple of days, he thought as he made his way back. But it looks like I’m free until then… I will have to go have another chat with Vanessa, though. I doubt she’ll change her mind on anything, but I did tell Braxton I’d at least bring it up.

Soon enough, Derek found his way back to his shop and went inside. Since it was still being updated, there weren’t any customers around, and everyone else was off doing their own thing. So, before dinner, he had quite a bit of time to kill. I’ve already spoken to one crafting maniac today. Might as well go talk to another.

Derek crept down to the basement and tried to make as little noise as possible so he wouldn’t disturb her if she was in the middle of something. Once he reached the bottom, he looked over to see the young smith in her apron and goggles, looking down at a sheet of paper on her workbench. Almost as soon as he saw her, she turned her head and saw him.

“Derek!” she happily greeted him.

“Hey kid, how’s it going?” he asked as the young smith hit him like a ton of bricks and wrapped him in a big hug. Even though they had been seeing each other consistently, the girl still reacted the same as always. Derek ruffled her hair as usual, then she backed away.

“It’s tough… and amazing!” Brandi said. “I have some ideas, but I’m having trouble figuring out how to make them work.”

“Is there anything that I can help with?” Derek asked.

“Nothing for now,” Brandi said. “But if I really hit another wall, I may ask. I want to figure this one out on my own.”

“Well, I’m here if you need me,” Derek said. He then went on to explain everything he’d heard from Roman about his Achievement.

“Great!” Brandi said. “I’m trying to work with some of the dragonkin material right now! Not any of the wyvern stuff, just the drake stuff. Maybe it will be enough to get an Achievement. It would be way too wasteful for me to try to work with the wyvern materials at my current level. It’s already wasteful enough for me to work with the drake materials.”

“Well, there’s plenty to go around,” Derek said. “They were some pretty massive beasts, after all.”

“There is a lot, but the material isn’t unlimited,” Brandi said. “I want my stats and skills to be much higher before I try to make something super amazing with that stuff. I can’t wait, but I have to be patient.”

“You? Be patient?” Derek asked with a laugh. “Is that possible?”

“Hmph…” Brandi snorted. “Momma asked me the same thing when I went to get the drake materials from her.”

Derek couldn’t help but chuckle at that. “Great minds and such,” he said. “I’ll let you get back to it. Good luck on whatever it is you’re making. I hope you get some new Achievements and a bunch of skill levels.”

“I’ll do my best!” Brandi said with a big smile before going back to her workstation. “Now… if I just add some extra bone dust here…”

Derek snorted, then turned around to leave. “Don’t forget about dinner tonight!” he shouted over his shoulder.

“I’ll be there!” Brandi shouted back. “If I’m not, come get me.”

“Will do,” Derek said. Then he left. I really hope Silvi doesn’t disappoint.