Chapter Forty-One

"It looks like you've leveled up nicely," Markus laughed as he gazed at Edward's stats. The two of them were standing just outside of the forest's entrance. Ikarus and Brandon hadn't met up with them yet, so they were both patiently waiting while sitting atop a log.

"So did you," Edward smiled as he looked at his friend.

"No, I didn't. When I compare my stats with yours, it's like I've been debuffed, or something," Markus replied. Edward looked at his friend and quickly shook his head.

/

Lvl: 10

XP: 0%

Title: None

Origin: Warden

—

HP: 200

MP: 120

SP: 80

---

DMG: (Great Sword - 11) 35

DEF: (Plate Armor - 15) 55

—

POW: 24

AGI: 16

END: 40

WIS: 24

LUC: 1

—

Active Skills: [Perfect Provoke], [Ground Smash], [Intermediate Heal]

Passive Skills: [Warden's Aura]

\

'He's focused more on his Wisdom stat, good!' Edward thought to himself. Other than the big jump with Markus's Agility, most of his stats had been balanced to a satisfying degree.

"You've upgraded your skills!" Edward smiled as he gazed at Markus's status screen, "And you've gained a new one, as well?"

"Warden's aura? When I saw it, I just knew I had to grab it," Markus smiled. He puffed his chest out and gave a small grin. Then, while Edward appraised his skill, Markus turned back to the forest and sighed, "That took us much longer than I thought it would."

"We'll have to do it again, tomorrow," Edward reminded him with a smile, "We still have to let Leila reach level ten before we go looking for a dungeon. Markus gave a quick nod before leaning forward and stretching his legs.

/

[Warden's Aura]

Creates an aura of defense around the user. All of the user's party members within five meters gain an additional 10 defense.

This skill can be upgraded

\

"This skill is awesome!" Edward smiled in glee. He immediately opened his status screen and beamed at his new defense stat. Markus smiled at Edward's excitement before standing up and putting his hands on his hips. 

/

DEF: 63

\

"It's too bad it doesn't increase my own stats, but it was still a worthy purchase," Markus laughed, "Now it'll be even harder to kill us."

"Good work, man!" Edward lightly punched his friend's arm, the smile across his face refusing to leave. He closed his status window, then turned back to the forest, "Man, they're going to be so excited when they find out."

"I hope so," Markus replied as he turned to look at the forest as well. After a moment, Edward saw a shadow dance across the ground. It moved from one side of the open clearing to the other- as if shot from a bow. Then, before Edward could even turn his gaze to the skies, he saw a large silvery figure drop in from above.

Ikarus landed heavily on the ground below- his body carving into the earth like a dull shovel. The dirt caused by his rough landing shot into the air, momentarily blocking Edward's view of the dragon. When the dirt fell out of the way, revealing the dragon, Edward gasped in surprise.

Ikarus had grown bigger since Edward last saw him. When before Ikarus was only the size of a cat, now he had grown into the size of an adult golden retriever. The dragon's scales had become thicker and his teeth had become sharper. What were once claws as sharp as butter knives, were now dangerous enough to cut metal. The spikes along his mane were taller now and the angles on his face had grown more refined.

Yet despite his significant change, Ikarus turned to look at Edward with the same childlike immaturity he had always had. Ikarus jumped forward, his tail carving into the earth without facing resistance, as he charged forward.

"Ikarus!" Edward smiled as he skipped forward. Edward opened his arms and laughed as Ikarus landed in his embrace. The adolescent dragon's weight pushed Edward back like a cannonball, but he didn't feel any pain from the impact. As he and Ikarus fell upon the ground the two of them began to hug like a dog and his owner reunited after only a few days apart. Ikarus's tail wagged back and forth enthusiastically while his chest rumbled with the loudest draconic purr Edward had the pleasure of hearing.

"He's much bigger," Markus chuckled. Edward looked at his friend and saw Markus gazing at Ikarus with an unblinking expression. The blonde man didn't appear afraid, thankfully, so Edward turned his gaze back to Ikarus.

"Let's see here," Edward smiled. He used his appraisal skill on his companion and watched as Ikarus's screen appeared in front of him.

/

Lvl: 10

XP: 5.25%

Race: Platinum Dragon

—

HP: 175

MP: 365

SP: 365

---

DMG: (Breath - 15) 88

DEF: (Dragon scale - 38) 73

—

POW: 10

AGI: 73

END: 35 

WIS: 73

LUC: 2

\

"Oh! You've gotten so strong!" Edward praised while speaking Draconic. The dragon's tail wagged once more while Edward slowly rose to his feet once again. Ikarus looked at Edward, then turned his attention to his shoulder. In an instant, Ikarus became sad as he realized he was now too large to fit on Edward's shoulder.

The dragon began sulking as the tail slowly came to a halt.

"It's Brandon," Markus spoke, pulling Edward's attention away from Ikarus's newfound size. He looked to the forest and watched as Brandon emerged from the line of trees. The man had a massive smile on his face- larger than Edward had ever seen. Markus helped Edward to his feet, and then the two of them walked to meet with Brandon.

"What's got you so excited?" Edward asked. Brandon chuckled and tried to speak, but then chuckled once more and bent forward. He began laughing so hard, that Edward thought he would end up suffocating himself.

"L-Look!" Brandon managed to speak. He raised his arm, then flicked his fingers. A status screen appeared in front of Edward and Markus, one of Brandon's stats. However, what Edward saw made him turn back to Brandon in amazement.

/

Lvl: 10

XP: 0%

Title: Leapt into Luck

Origin: Tychokinetic

—

HP: 105

MP: 5

SP: 145

---

DMG: (Flintlocks - 6. Rapier - 11) 35 - 15

DEF: (Leather Armor - 8) 29

—

POW: 4

AGI: 29

END: 21

WIS: 1

LUC: 85

—

Active Skills: [Hurried Reload], [Swift Shot], [Dash], [Stealth]

Passive Skills: [Fortune's Aura]

\

"You have a title! How did your origin change?" Markus shouted with widened eyes. He looked at Edward, who shrugged in response, before looking back at Brandon, "This is incredible!"

"I… I got lucky," Brandon snickered, now finally calming down for a moment, "When I was fighting some boars one of them ran away from me. At the end of the fight, it was way too far to hit accurately, so I gave up on it. But, mostly as a joke, I swung my arm and fired in its direction!"

"And… you hit it?" Edward guessed.

"The system gave me a title in response!" Brandon nodded, then laughed once more, "Then, it gave me a status screen saying that I 'depended on luck' too much and changed my origin, as well."

'His level wasn't reset?' Edward wondered, perplexed, 'Is it because it wasn't because he picked up a new one? His Bounty Hunter origin was upgraded, instead?'

"Why is your luck so high?" Markus asked as he did some quick math.

"I was messing around with my stats today, so I just dumped everything into luck," Brandon explained, "When my origin changed, the system gave me a bunch of stat points. Then, every time I leveled up it gave me fifteen per level instead of ten."

"It gave you extra stat points to adjust to your level. What level were you when you killed the boar and how many stat points were there?"

"Uh, I think I was level seven? There were thirty stat points," Brandon answered.

'For the six levels he had already passed,' Edward realized, 'The system was just reimbursing him with the stat points he would've had if he had that Origin from the start.'

'Lucky bastard,' Edward thought as he turned to Brandon with a big smile.