“How about you tell us how the armor and weapons are coming along? You said that the blacksmiths are hard at work already?” Derek asked.

    “Yes,” Edgar replied with a nod. “Tyron, Shaemus, Braxton, and I paid a visit to Malorie and worked out what materials you had that would be useful. Avery also allowed them to go through many of the Crown’s stored materials, so I think we are set on that.”

    “That’s great,” Derek said. “Thanks for the assist, Avery.”

    “Of course,” the archer replied. “It’s not like I was ever going to use the stuff.”

    “You have quite the talented young smith working for you, too,” Braxton cut in. “I could see the fire in her eyes as her materials were taken from her, one by one. She has very good control over herself. I don’t even think Shaemus could have been that... agreeable—even under the circumstances.”

    “Yeah,” Derek said. “She’s going to become one hell of a blacksmith by the time she’s finished.”

    “And she is working on many interesting things,” Braxton said. “Shaemus was very impressed by her. He said that if she’d been a dwarf, he would have taken her under his wing right then and there. That is very high praise coming from the master smith.”

    “I’m glad her smithing made an impression,” Derek replied. “That means that she’s on the right path.”

    “Indeed,” Braxton replied.

    “Now,” Derek said, “you have the materials. What about the armor and weapons themselves? Have the smiths started yet?”

    “They have!” Vanessa was the first to answer. The next moment, a sword with a dark black blade appeared in her hand. The Shadow Witch waved the weapon around, and it seemed as though shadows trailed behind it. “This is quite the amazing weapon,” she said.

    “I can see that,” Derek said. “I thought you decided to get your weapon last?” he asked. He remembered the discussion they had before and recalled Vanessa volunteering to get her weapon toward the end because it wouldn’t be as useful for her.

    “I did,” Vanessa said. “But Tyron already had materials that seemed to work well with my shadows, and I was already at the shop, so he began on it as soon as you left. By the end of the next day, I had the new sword.”

    “It worked out great, too,” Edgar said. “The day after that, Shaemus came down, then we went for the other materials.”

    “I see,” Derek said. He certainly couldn’t fault the smith for being efficient. Derek examined the sword in the woman’s hands, then asked, “Is it legendary? What does it do?” He just couldn’t keep himself from asking. He was very intrigued by the skills everyone would receive with legendary weapons. The Material Drain ability that Void’s Harbinger came with had already helped him out in more ways than one. He hoped all the new weapons could come with such a good ability.

    “Well, since the main material was the bones of a legendary dark wyvern, I’ve named it Wyvern’s Shadow,” she explained. “And yes, it is legendary.”

    “And its legendary ability?” Derek asked. “Well... you don’t have to answer that if you’re uncomfortable.”

    “No, that’s fine,” Vanessa said. “It cuts the mana used to cast my spells and skills down by a third and reduces cooldown by the same amount. It’s called Shadow Reserve.”

    “Oh,” Derek said. “That would be very good for a mana-heavy fighter.”

    “It is,” Vanessa replied. “It is very good for me. Many of my skills require a constant mana draw. Having Wyvern’s Shadow makes those skills all the more useful.”

    “Like your flight and your shadow dome thing?” Derek asked.

    “Exactly,” the Shadow Witch replied. “Those two and a few more. As for the others, the cooldown reduction is very good.”

    “And how’s the sword as a whole?” Derek asked. “Like, sharpness and durability and stuff?”

    “Above any other weapon I’ve ever held,” Vanessa said. “It is truly an amazing weapon, and I owe you, your young smith, and Tyron for providing the materials and for crafting it for me.”

    “Well, just make good use of it, and we can call it even,” Derek said.

    “As if I could ever break even with you after what you’ve done for me,” Vanessa said while shaking her head. Her eyes found Nyx and Braxton and lingered on the two Assassin’s Guild Leaders. “I have already accepted that I will always owe you.”

    “Well...” Derek waved her words away. “You can do whatever you want, I guess. It’s your life. But as long as you help when the time comes, I say we’re good.”

    “I will definitely help,” Vanessa said, then placed her sword back in her storage.

    “Is Vanessa the only person with a new weapon or armor right now?” Derek asked.

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    “She is not,” Edgar said, then pulled out a sword that looked identical to the one he had before. “Tyron used my sword as the base and basically rebuilt it. Honestly, I was very surprised at how well the weapon turned out since I would technically consider it just an upgrade and not crafted from the ground up.”

    “That’s cool,” Derek said. “And it’s legendary?”

    “It took a couple of tries and a ton of my mana,” Edgar said. “And Blitz helped, too. But he was finally able to get it there, yes.”

    “Awesome,” Derek said. “Do you mind sharing what it does?”

    “Not at all,” Edgar said. “First of all, it’s even more compatible with me and my lightning, so even without it being an ability or skill, the ease with which I can channel my lightning through it has increased maybe tenfold. I find that to be the best thing. But yes, it does have an ability called Shock Factor. It’s not as cool of a name as Shadow Reserve and doesn’t help as much, but it will work.”

    “Oh, it’s not a great ability?” Derek asked. So far, he’d say that the legendary weapons he’d seen were two for two on being useful.

    “No, it’s good. It should be very useful. I just don’t know how useful,” Edgar explained. “Shock Factor increases the chance of every attack I make paralyzing or stunning the enemy. However, it doesn’t say how much of an increase. It also doesn’t say if it works with regular attacks that don’t even have any lightning in them. I have a lot to test before I know how good the weapon is.”

    “Oh,” Derek said. “I can definitely see that being really useful in specific situations. Just a split second of being stunned is enough to lose your life, so that could be a very dangerous weapon.”

    “Yeah,” Edgar said. “Hopefully. We just finished making it this morning, so I haven’t even really gotten a chance to swing it around yet. It should pair well with my armor, though. I haven’t talked about my family’s legendary armor, and I hope none of this leaves this room...” Edgar eyed Nyx.

    “You have nothing to fear from me,” Nyx said. “We are a different Assassin’s Guild than we once were. I will swear an oath once we are finished here, if you would like.”

    “That’s fine,” Edgar said. “Just don’t go spreading it around, but my armor ability is called Charge. It increases the mana recovery rate of lightning and electric users.”

    “I see,” Derek said. “That would pair really well with Greater Meditation.”

    “That is for sure,” Braxton said.

    “Well,” Derek said as he spoke with Edgar, “let me know how the new skill is.” Once Edgar nodded, Derek looked around. “Anyone else?” he asked.

    “Shaemus is currently busy creating a set of flexible armor for Mr. Swan,” Braxton said. “A full set of armor will take quite a bit longer to create than a weapon or two, especially depending on the capacity of the person it is being created for. Avery will have to be there in the end to have each piece attuned to him before we know if it even comes out as legendary.”

    “Speaking of which,” Avery said. “I will be heading to Stonehelm once this meeting is over. I am interested in finding out what kind of armor an Armorsmith can create for someone who has only ever worn light leather armor.”

    “Well,” Derek said. “I can’t wait to see it.”

    “Indeed,” Braxton said with a nod. “Shaemus’s armor is always great.”

    “Good,” Derek replied. “So, it seems like the creation of armor and weapons for our strongest is going well, and the smiths have all the materials that they’ll need.”

    “Maybe,” Braxton said. “They got what they expect to be enough, but you never know when it comes to crafting. Like Duke Edgar said, it took a few tries for The Walking Forge to ‘upgrade’ his weapon. That means that some materials have already gone to waste. Even the best smiths make mistakes—especially when epic-grade is not enough.”

    “Oh, well... they know where to go to get more if needed,” Derek said. He was tempted to hand Braxton and Edgar some of the mana cores that he and Silvi had just returned with. However, using them would require help from a runesmith, too. Brandi was able to do it all herself, but it would just be more to figure out for Shaemus and Tyron. They needed to work with what they knew instead of researching new things—if they weren’t on a clock, experimenting would be fine, but they were.

    “Is there anything else about the crafting and stuff that we need to talk about?” Derek asked. “Nyx, do you need a new weapon or armor?”

    “Oh, no,” Nyx said. “I am not much of a fighter. I have all that I need.”

    “Okay,” Derek said. He then looked at Natalie. “You have everything you need?”

    “I have my golem armor,” Natalie said. “I am also not a fighter. If it gets to the point where I have to use my armor, our situation will be dire—just like the last time. Luckily, Alanah was there to help last time.” She pointedly stared at Osian.

    “And we are paying for that, are we not?” Osian said.

    “Yes,” Natalie replied. “But it was an expensive battle.”

    “Okay...” Derek clapped his hands. “Now that the smithing discussion is over, it’s time to get down to business. Let’s see... what can I talk about without getting smited?” he muttered the last part and looked up at the ceiling. “Well... I recently had a fight,” he said, looking up. Nothing... good. “I fought a guy who was very... very far away from here. He was almost as strong as Avery, I would say.

    “It could suck if a ton of people that strong attacked all at once...” Derek felt a heaviness settle down on him, and he knew that he had just pushed the Origin System a bit.

    “Oh! So we’re being invaded by a bunch of people who are as strong as Avery Swan?” Braxton asked rhetorically. He’d been the first to pretty much hit the nail on the head, and it seemed like he was doing his best to ‘inform’ everyone of his assumptions, since Derek couldn’t really say much else.

    “At least, that is what we expect,” Nyx said. “If it is something that Derek found out about, and the Great System is being that stringent on the details, we should prepare for something even worse.”

    Derek looked around and shrugged. He was glad that everyone already understood what was at stake. Finally, he said, “I also have some other news.”

    “What news is that?” Edgar asked.

    “I now have something in common with Alanah,” he said. He wasn’t sure what all he could say about that.

    “You’re going to be going after her soon, then?” Avery asked, but didn’t wait for a reply. “That’s good. I worry about her—the sooner, the better.”

    “Not necessarily,” Derek said. “I still have to be here.”

    “But as soon as this... invasion is over,” Avery said. “You must go.”

    Derek shrugged. “Right now... I’m just hoping that all the armor and weapons will be finished within the next couple of months.” He raised his eyebrows at everyone. He had a six-month countdown for his ascension, and Dave had clearly told him that there would be enough time, so that meant that the Universal System was only months, if not less, away.

    Edgar stood. “I will see to it that Tyron has whatever help is needed.”

    “And I will speak to Shaemus about working with another smith. He will not like it, but I’m sure I can get him to swallow his pride and receive help,” Braxton said as he kicked in the footrest and also hopped out of his chair. “He is the best smith, but he is not the only smith we have that can create legendary armor.”

    “Is there anything that anyone else wants to discuss?” Derek asked the room, and nobody spoke up. “Okay, well, I’m not going to call another one of these meetings until we really need it. I just wanted to know how our preparations were going. Everything is looking good. In that case, everyone can go. Prepare anyone and everyone that you can. You are all dismissed.”