Any and all information regarding this subject, if obtained from this document, cannot be shared except with the intended reciprocates. Attempting to do so will result in severe consequences.

Intended reciprocates: Saya Darwain, Cobaltio (redacted)

Legendary classes, for humanoids, are the pinnacle of potential. However, there is one, and only one way to obtain one. A legendary class is obtained from a seal, known as a [legendary seal]. A [legendary seal] is invincible in every way and fated to eventually fall into a humanoid’s hands. Not even a god can gift a legendary class.

These seals are fundamentally unrelated to my system, but their powers are still recorded in one’s menu. Not much is known about their origin, powers, or purpose, but they predate the gods. The very establishment of my system was, in part, based on their powers.

Legendary seals merge with their user and take the place of one’s heart upon death...

Ok, yeah, yeah, secret information few people know, cool, cool. I’ll look at that later when I feel like it. I navigated to the page about legendary classes, regarding monster systems.

Unlike a humanoid, legendary classes may be obtained by monsters naturally through the system.

Referring to the system, a creature will rarely be given access to a legendary class based on its relevance in the grand scheme, and especially if it has unique traits, also known as mutations.

Well, at least I had the right idea with [mutant].

(redacted section)

A legendary class will absorb souls and, particularly, worthy souls as a source of power.

I grunted in confusion. That sure escalated quickly. What was in that ‘redacted section’!?

Experience gained with a legendary class will not be reduced, but instead shared with the legendary class because of this. While a [legendary seal] will react to any (redacted), a naturally occurring legendary skill is indiscriminate, and will simply absorb worthy souls, taking their essence up to the usual limit. This means that a legendary class will not provide many level-up benefits unless a master class or higher is killed, and in such a case it will absorb their power rather than converting it to Exp. The process of leveling a legendary class is linear and very lucrative but will take time and halt a monster’s progress towards level 10 or 20. Legendary classes can be taken at any point, even if a monster has already taken a class.

(redacted section)

It is recommended to only give a monster its legendary class if the creature is physically strong enough, and once a fitting class has been unlocked, as the acquisition of a legendary class cannot be undone. Certain classes will also reject a candidate if they have yet to achieve any feats, so any creature capable of a legendary class must prove their worth to obtain a more suitable power.

I sat on that for a while, trying to sort out what I had read. I eventually decided I’d follow the instructions by the book, and not give Cobaltio his legendary class yet. I had also got it into my head that he wouldn’t want to be ridden since he was now sentient, so [legendary mount] was a no-go. I also took a look at a few of his skills, to get a better idea of his assets.

[blessed of Maophas]: this creature is granted an additional 10% charisma growth, has minor resistance against all magics, and may take [oathbreaker] classes, if applicable.

[minevore]: this creature is sustained by, and gains Exp from eating specific minerals.

[draconic lineage]: this creature has the pure blood of the ancient bloodline of dragons.

[drake lineage]: [drake]s have harder scales than [dragon]s, are bulkier, less intelligent, charismatic, and sentient, but are unable to fly or breathe fire, and are born cold-blooded.

[Draconis’s fate]: Draconis has recognized this creature as one of his true kin. They gain 10% intelligence growth, and their elemental breath weapon is stronger than normal.

[deaf]: this creature cannot hear. This usually results in being gifted [blessed of Maophas]

[infernal resistance]: this creature has greater resistance to the fire element.

Cobaltio had [fire breath] because he was part dragon, [natural armor] as strong as a [drake]’s, and was recognized as primarily a [drake], but also had [language] as a trained skill, which rapidly increased the speed at which he learned language. He was also part [human], which wasn’t very self-explanatory in its effects.

That man in the cloak implied we’d likley meet again, so I kept my questions about Cobaltio reserved for whenever that happened.

Eventually, Reco stood from her bed and yawned. “Hey, Saya,” she said, beginning to stretch. “Anything new to say?”

{We’re leaving tomorrow.}

“Rushing us out as quickly as possible, huh? Sounds like Gruan to me. Well, do you want to grab some grub, then skedaddle to the armory?” She asked.

{Sure.}

“Cool. I’ll get dressed, then.”

We walked down the streets, with Cobaltio on my shoulders, who tried to read the signs we passed. Reco had dressed up with a whole new set of clothes, wearing a black leather vest, a red, frilly shirt, and some tough-looking pants.

“Well, let’s see...we can get some freshly harvested stuff from the outskirts, like beans, fruits, tomatoes, that kind of stuff, and then I can cook them in the kitchens. Or, we can just get a snack and eat whatever Tiffany plans on serving for dinner, since I missed breakfast. Oh, did you get breakfast?”

I shook my head, pretending I didn’t just learn that I could get free breakfast.

“Oh, ok. Then in which case, let’s just buy sandwiches and call it a lunch.”

Reco led me, after taking a few wrong turns, to a stall where a bunch of sandwiches were stacked atop each other in different piles, covered in transparent wrapping. A girl with a weird dome-shaped hat leaned back in her chair, watching as we began to pick out the types we wanted.

I remembered when I could barely stand over a counter the size I was standing in front of, then looked to Reco to compare our heights.

For a girl, she was fairly tall, but she was at most a foot taller than me, probably less. It made me feel proud. I was just a bit taller than five feet tall, which had been seemingly insurmountable height just a year or two ago.

Reco looked at the labels for each of the piles with curiosity. “So, we’ve got the normal stuff, just some lettuce, tomatoes, meat, whatever else is put on it...and the types are elekit sandwich, one made with monster meat for some reason, and a polytimbur sandwich. What do you want?’

Uhh, {elekit} I wrote since I loved the flavor...or texture, I wasn’t sure what elekit’s unique property would count as.

“Ok, can we get two elekit and two monster meat?”

Reco scarfed down her two monster meat sandwiches, while I fed Cobaltio a bite and ate the rest of my own sandwich, savoring the electrical taste, and keeping the other in its ‘plastic’ wrapping.

We walked through the white city for another ten minutes and ended up at a large building near the Shining Pillar. This one was utilitarian in shape, taking the simple form of a white box with two floors and windows only on the second. It looked a bit grungy compared to the buildings near it.

Reco opened the door, then gave it a small kick as she walked in, giving me time to slip through before it sprang back into place.

“Heya, Parla,” Reco said as she walked past a few aisles of weapons and tools, to a short-haired girl crouched on the ground.

She looked to Reco in confusion, then sprang up and grabbed Reco’s hands in excitement. “Reco, you’re back!”

“Uh-huh, I am. I brought someone with me to browse your selection of death objects.”

Parla quickly took on an unamused tone. “Please don’t refer to my dad’s work as ‘death objects’.”

“Ok, you got it. Death tools it is.”

Parla sighed, then walked to me. “Hello, who might you be?”

{I’m Saya.}

“Oh, a silent angel. I didn’t expect to see one of them walking around my shop! What do you need?”

I unsheathed my sword. It was an old sword and one that had seen a lot of use. I stole it from a particularly unlikable guard, and it had probably been the death of a few people. At the same time, it felt like it was my blade, you know? I’d gone through a lot with it, even if it had seen better days.

“Hmm, one of Reg-reg’s swords...” Parla said, slowly taking the sword from my hands. “I didn’t expect to see his stuff so far inland.”

Uhh, wait, she just, like, knew off the ba-

“It also says some guy called Wilka owns it...”

Oh shit.

“Ok, well, interesting I guess.” She tossed the sword into my hands, making me fumble with it, spooked. “A 15-year-old blade just won’t cut it these days, I get i-”

“Ha, cut! I get it!” Reco said

Parla responded to Reco with bored agitation once more. “Please don’t make sword puns in my presence; they get repetitive.”

“Ooook.”

“Thank you. Moving on...Saya, if its a new sword you’re looking for, follow me.”

Parla led me through an aisle of farm tools, and to a separate door, which she opened, revealing an entire hallway of swords. I walked to the middle of the room behind her.

“These are all our swords. Rapier, scimitar, khopesh, broadsword, shortsword, full-guard swords, ornate swords, blade-catching swords, a katana, I guess, and some other oddballs from around the globe. If you want another sword from Reg-reg, I can show you one or two, but he’s a desert-surfer, and his stuff doesn’t show up around here.”

I began to shift through the swords, very curious about them.

“What about monster-slayers?” Reco asked.

Parla sighed. “We have one.”

“Just one?”

“Yhers require a specific ore to make. Their structure just won’t hold without it.” I briefly paused my browsing to keep that word in mind.

“Is the ore rare?”

“It is only found in dungeons, specifically in the reproduction chamber.”

“Oh, wow, it’s that rare?”

“Yep. That’s one of the reasons why the salvager’s guild buys dungeons from the adventurer's guild; there are a lot of valuable ores and materials to clean up after they're cleared. On the bright side, the ore also happens to be especially fatal to monsters.”

“That’s real convenient,” Reco said, surprised. “Hey, Saya, have you found anything you vibe with?”

I had been formulating my needs in a sword. Since I relied a lot on [decapitation], my new sword had to have a good sweeping edge, but it also seemed important to be decent at stabbing. Given how my old one could barely pierce the [wyven]’s skin, it would be nice to have a better chance at wounding my enemy next time. Or...maybe I should have tried to play around [decapitation] in that scenario. The [wyvern] had pulled its head back to stop me, but I could have at least tried...

I turned in response to Reco, and wrote, {Any all-purpose blades that are really good at slashing and killing monsters?}

Parla walked to one end of the room, picked up a blade, and tossed it to me(ok seriously can she stop doing that!?). I fumbled with it, trying not to cut myself, and finally kept it rested in my hand. It was thick, with only one sharp end, and a curved guard that couldn’t catch swords but would keep my hand way safer than it used to be. The blade itself was more curved than I had ever seen, bending over a half-foot back. The handle, however, wasn’t half a hand like I was used to, and instead one-handed.

“We call that blade a Northkeen falchion. It gets a lot of use in the Northern Dread Lands, where monsters are an even larger threat. Actually, it was the northkeen tribes whose sophisticated technology made the Northern Dread Lands as safe as they are today. Err, but I guess you want to test it out, right?”

Did I want a one-handed blade? Having a shield would be nice, but I wasn’t used to one. I slowly swung it around, preliminarily testing the weight and use of it. It felt nice to swing, but I needed to get used to the curve. Why did it even curve?

“That one was built for the few needs you listed, but I don’t know if you want a two-handed sword.”

Well, I could try it.

I ended up wanting the blade. I tried it out, swung it around, tested it on a cutting dummy(the cost of which Reco paid for), and realized immediately after trying my old sword on the same one just how big the difference was. The falchion was a good deal heavier than my old sword, it had only one bladed side, and it curved, so it made my old one look like a joke. Apparently, blades curved for more cutting force, which I never knew. It was also new and sharp, and that probably helped.

“So, what do you think?” Parla asked while I cut another satisfying layer off the dummy. “Do you like it?”

Heck yeah! I nodded.

“Well, I’m not sure if you can afford it, but it’s 100 gold pieces.”

1...00?

I mean, my family was pretty stacked, as far as my village went, but we only had, like, 400 saved up at the best of times.

“We also have one made by Avalez, the omega smith.”

W-who?

“Yoooo, you have one of Avalez’s stuff!?” Reco said, surprsied.

“We have two of his ‘stuff’ actually,” Parla noted.

{Who is Avalez?}

She shrugged. “He’s the best smith ever, a Dreadie who travels from place to place, occasionally gracing people with his presence. His falchion is 2500 gold pieces, so unless you’re the Grand General’s long-lost daughter, you aren’t buying it. Though, I’m not even sure who gave me it. He didn’t tell me his name, and kinda just ran out with the gold I gave him. It is a genuine, though.”

An interesting story.

She looked down unenthusiastically. “So, you got the money for that blade or are you pawning off your old boy? He’s worth, like, 30, I’d say.”

Cobal-oh, she meant my blade.

I kneeled to the ground, then untied a sack at my belt, and shook out its contents, revealing a large selection of gems.

“OI, why’s a little girl carrying around gems, and why does she think I run a jeweler’s shop?”

Reco smiled and patted her old friend’s shoulder. “Look, Saya’s a special little girl, let her off the hook.”

Parla just sighed. “I didn’t realize you had the money to buy it, so I didn’t mention it, but I can check the exact durability of a sword. Depending on how damaged it is, you can return it for a partial or full refund after you try it in combat.”

Convenient!

After that, I had to do some things. First, I called Maladrain from his room and asked him about his opinion on the situation. He encouraged me to buy it, as well as a shield but called dibs on half the gold, which was fine by me.

He navigated us to a jeweler’s shop and pawned off the gems for 320 gold. We also had three pounds of gold, which they took for 150 gold pieces. (50 gold is one pound)

By the end, I was shifting my hand through a pool of gold coins.

“Pretty hefty, right, kid?” Maladrain asked while Reco stood nearby, unimpressed by the sum.

I nodded my head, entranced.

“Yeah, since I was technically funded by the guild, I need to give them 20% of my finds.” Before I could say it in my head, he said, “It’s kinda lame, yeah, but that’s just how the guild works. A lot of gold goes into funding the guild, so its a necessary lameity.”

With all of that accounted for, I had..

470 over 5 equals...94, 470 minus 94 equals... 400 - 24. 400 over 2 minus 24 over 2 equals 188

188 gold pieces. Damn, I was rich!

I returned to the armory with my gold, and Parla took me and Reco(Maladrain had business) to a table on the second floor, where she counted the gold.

“Do you want to buy a scabbard? It will take some time to make, but it costs at least 20 gold.” Parla asked.

Only?

“You probably want the 20 gold one, Saya,” Reco said, leaning left in the seat right of me. “They 20 gold ones are always the best efficiency.”

I nodded and sent the...merchant? Blacksmith? I sent Parla a thumbs up.

“Right, a 20 gold scabbard will take a week to make, and I’ll need to measure your sword before you leave. Now, about your armor and shield...I’d suggest a buckler, just in general, but if you intend on fighting monsters you may prefer an armguard buckler.” Apparently, she had already prepared the shield, because she produced it from below the table, and sat it next to the sword. “Try it on.”

Parla helped me strap it all on correctly, which took a minute since I hadn’t used a shield, like, more than one other time. In retrospect, it was super simple to equip.

The shield was almost like a bracer and could cover my whole arm with its long and oval-shaped frame. It strapped onto two parts of my forearm and stuck out a little past my elbow. Basically, it was a wide buckler.

“That’s 35 gold. It should keep you safe. A-actually, are you, like, actually going out and fighting monsters already?”

Reco spoke up for me. “She cleared a [cobold] encampment almost on her lonesome, from what Maladrain said.”

“Oh, she’s one of Mally’s friends! A little weird how he keeps-Wait she did what? With that hunk of metal?”

“She saved Mally’s life, too.’

“Wow. Young people can be so weird.” The girl looked to at most be in her late twenties, so I found the statement just a bit comical. “Anyway if that shield isn’t your vibe...” she slowly hefted another shield from below the table. It was a massive kite shield, almost as big as me. “I have this, which is a hundred gold. Kite shields a really good for fighting monsters, especially in groups, and they give you a huge advantage in weight if things try to knock you down, plus they...”

Me and Reco looked at her like she was crazy,

She cleared her throat and put the shield down. “Erm...Too heavy, I guess...A-anyway, so what do you think? Falchion and buckler?”

Reco shrugged, glancing at me as I pondered. “You’re going to be fighting in a monster outbreak area, so you shouldn’t skimp out on your gear...for the most part.”

“Oh, and by the way...” Parla began, “That sword has a name. Menu, open sword notes...It’s called Houndcleaver V4, and was made by Hendrickson the Moundweaver. It also has some helpful notes,” She cleared her throat, reading from an invisible menu. “This sword is the third series of falchion I’ve made. Honestly, I’m proud of this one. I think the curve may have been a bit too long, and the end could have been more weighted. The handle guard is a little flimsy, so it can fail against strong hits. Made P.G. 401. It also has measurements for a scabbard, which I wrote to my menu.”

Well, that’s a lot of info. I wasn’t sure what these ‘sword notes’ looked like, but it seemed neat. {Let’s just call it Houndcleaver.} I wrote.

“So, you’re going to buy Houndcleaver?”

I nodded.

“And the shield?”

I nodded.

“Sold to th’ smallest girl!”

With all of that said and done, I had 188 - 155= 33 gold left. I was no longer rich, unfortunately. On the bright side, I could pawn off my old sword if the new one proved superior, or return it if it wasn’t.

Parla outfitted me with a temporary, complimentary belt clip for my new falchion, or rather, Houndcleaver, a whetstone, some oil, and a cloth for cleaning it. Apparently, they were negligible compared to the sword’s cost.

I reaaaaly wanted to test the sword out a little more, so I rushed back to the training grounds.

Reco ended up dragging me into the guild, though, and we ate dinner along with all the people still at the guild.

I was a bit whiny about it on our way there, but I ended up composing myself by the time I arrived at the entrance.

I held my arms behind my back as I walked through, practicing serene steps. It was the way I had been taught to introduce myself, and even though I was more partial to showing my confidence rather than my ‘grace’ or whatever, walking like that was second nature to me in...certain scenarios.

The main room was empty, relative to its maximum capacity. The only people there were the instructor, the junior squad, a girl I hadn’t seen before, and Maladrain. They were eating some stew and a wrap with a giant leaf for a shell.

My entrance drew the few people’s attention, and Maladrain waved me over to his table.

I sat down beside him while Reco walked right behind me and pulled over a chair, since the somewhat small table was already packed with Dota and Julius.

“What’s up, you all? It’s been a while since I saw Mal’s lackeys,” Reco immediately said.

Julius looked at her with an annoyed frown. “I’m not his ‘lackey’.”

“Of course, minion.”

“That’s even worse...”

“So what were you all talking about?”

“Nothing much,” Dota said, “I was describing a monster poaching ship I used to sail on.”

“‘Nothing much’?” Reco said in disbelief. “That sounds so cool! You used to sail on one of those?”

Dota shrugged, his feathers’ movement making a relaxing sound, unlike that of shuffling clothes. “I doubt it’s as cool as you think. We don’t really use giant harpoons.”

“Whaaaaat?!” Reco said, dissapointed, “What about the monster cages? You have those, don’t you?”

Dota laughed, “No, I’m afraid not. It would be quite difficult to carry and train a aquatic monster like that. Besides, you know how dangerously unstable monsters can be.”

Reco made a grumble of dissapointment. “At least tell me the ships have those huge nets to catch monsters! They do, right?”

“I’m afraid those nets aren’t for monsters.”

Reco made a gasp of curiosity. “What is it for, then? Tell me it’s for enemy ships, pleeeease!”

“Err...no, I’m afraid we use it to catch fish. Though, I suppose they catch monsters on occasion too.”

Reco slumped in sadness.

I could hardly participate in the conversation, so I continued observing the room. Ritta and the other girl were sitting politely, quite close to each other, and I quickly remembered who she was -June, his fiance. He was speaking to the only other girl in the junior squad, Thraisly, from the opposite side of the table.

“From what I understand, the Dread Lands is a popular spot for the other houses to establish colonies in -recently, that is,” Ritta inquired.

Thraisly nodded, averting her eyes. “I suppose so.”

“How do you feel about that? I’ve heard of a few conflicts between your tribes and the colonies. Some of them got messy.”

She rolled her eyes. “We aren’t tribes, we’re city-states.”

“City-states?” June asked, her voice very soft and inoffensive. “I thought there were still prominent tribes in the Dread Lands since before the Monster Purge.”

Thraisly shook her head, sighing. “No, there is ‘tribes’, but not in the way you’re thinking. Our ‘tribes’ are just a distinction between our heritages. I’m a descendent of the Canite tribe, hence my darker skin than Maladrain, for instance.” She briefly motioned to him. “But by no means are tribes still our governing system...at least in the north. I can’t believe people still think that after...what, a century?”

“Oh, I wasn’t aware,” June said. “I apologize. Then what tribe does Maladrain hail from?”

Thraisly shrugged, glancing at him. “He’s probably a Southerner, maybe a Manin?”

“Hmm...”

Ritta continued. “So, about the colonies -are they a problem for Dreadies?”

“Dude, don’t call me that,” Thraisly said, scowling.

“Ah- Sorry, I didn’t mean to offend.”

“If you’re looking for a blanket term, you can just say Dread-Landers.”

“Right. My question stands, however.”

“Actually, they’re quite beneficial. The mountains separating The Preclaimed Lands and uwws mean we can’t trade outside our own lands, which isn’t great when trading over...well, the Dread lands isn’t easy.”

“But the monster purge helped with that, correct?”

She shook her head. “I guess, but monsters always come back stronger. That’s why we were stuck in small tribes for so long -we didn’t need an army, we needed individual strength.”

“I see,” Ritta said. “I was merely worried because of what happened the last time The Preclaimed Lands attempted to claim land outside its domain.”

“The last time?”

“It ended in much bloodshed, and the creation of The Whispering Lands, on the Might Continent.”

“I’ve never heard of that place. Huh.”

“Unfortunately, we’re only just starting to make peace with them. What made it even worse was how we established the colonies -since we transported the colonists across the Seafolks’ lands.”

“Is that why y’all can’t stop fighting those people?”

“No, I’m afraid that conflict goes quite deep. More so than I can explain in any given meal. I could always give you a brief tutoring on the state of politics some other t- Ah!”

June looked up at her fiance with a frown after poking his cheek.

“Erm, but I’d be better off attending to June...” then he whispered, “Not that my family would approve of tutoring a Dread...Lander.”

The conversation seemed to peter out after that, though June seemed to have noted my curiosity while I’d vaguely paid attention to it. Herbert was also sitting at their table, though he had remained silent, and seemed more curious about the monster hunting ship.

I had listened to both of the conversations, though I couldn’t recollect anything that passed through the other.

Suddenly, as both conversations were halfway to ending, Tiffany stormed through the front door, holding the bag that had held Herbert’s ball bearings. Once she got close enough, she raised the bag and said, “If you don’t catch this, you’re cleaning it up, you freaking sadist!”

He watched with fear as she hurled it through the air at an incredible speed, straight at his face. He caught it before it could smack him, but the recoil send him flying off his chair and tumbling down the hallway, clutching the bag’s opening like his life depended on it. He ended up crashing on the floor some ten feet away.

“Serves you right for making me clean that shit up in the darkness!” she said, before picking up his plate and shoving his whole meal down her throat before he even had the chance to stand. She set it down and said, “I’m going to my dorm, now. You’re cleaning the kitchen tonight, Herbert.”

“But-”

She was already out.

“But I don’t know how to clean...”

Ritta burst out laughing, while the rest of the room was silent, everyone sharing pitiless smiles. “Oh my goodness, you’re such a deadbeat, Herbert!” he said lightheartedly.

He seemed to find it hilarious, even more so than the rest of the guild, and couldn’t contain himself, not even his [noble presence] covering up his brashness.

I chuckled at Ritta, then Herbert began to laugh along with his nephew, still on the ground, and then everyone else followed, the laughter spreading quickly to everyone in the guild.

Maybe I couldn’t talk like the rest of them, but this was fun.