Chapter 74: Discussion

“Oh? Ask away.” Derek said.

“I am still hung up on one major issue. I know that Wallace couldn’t have cleared the dungeon, and you have confirmed this with your confession. So, how did an elite dungeon, one about to burst at that, get completed? Then, there are the two storage rings, one from the reward, and another from being the first to complete it, I would assume. This all adds up that you had something to do with the completion of the dungeon.” Walter said.

Derek nodded. “I did have something to do with it.” The man had already figured that much out, so Derek was not going to insult him by answering in the negative.

“But, you could not have possibly been the one to clear it. Just with the power you displayed to Bronson, and what you showed me already, it isn’t possible for you to be under the dungeon level cap. The only possibility I can think of is an elite team that works for you, completing it and handing you the rewards.” The man pondered, giving more and more thought to the issue.

He continued speaking, working through the possibilities out loud. “But that doesn’t make sense either, considering the boy you brought with you. If you already had followers like that, then it would not be logical to bring the kid with you unless he was something special. According to Bronson, he is more of a carriage for your beast companion than a student.”

Derek got a good chuckle out of that. Ever since they left the village, other than during the fight with the bandits, Thomas had been a taxi service for Silvi. He smiled at Walter. “Any other ideas?”

The man furrowed his brow and sat in silence for a few moments. Seemingly thinking of any other possibilities. Eventually, he shook his head. “For the life of me, I cannot think of anything else. Strangers clearing the dungeon wouldn’t have given you their rewards, and I doubt you would kill them and steal the rewards, especially since you already told me that you would not have killed Wallace if he had only angered you.”

“You could have traded some strangers for the rewards, but most people would not let the opportunity to brag about being the first to complete a dungeon go. We would have heard about their completion well before you arrived at the city. Of course, I could be wrong and you did, in fact, kill an entire team to set up the results. But that makes less sense than everything else after meeting you.” Finally, apparently out of ideas, the man went silent. Then he looked into Derek’s eyes. “Will you tell me how you did it? I’m afraid not knowing is going to eat at me for a very long time if you do not.”

Derek pondered the situation for quite some time before finally giving an answer. “I can tell you.” He said. Walter’s eyes lit up as he waited for the answer. “But this answer concerns a big secret of mine, so I would need you to give an oath first.”

Walter frowned. “What kind of oath? I can give one, it’s not like I haven’t given many in my life, but it cannot be too stringent. If it is, I will have to make do with random guesses and never knowing.”

It made sense. Oaths were not something that was easy to accept for most people. Though, Derek figured that someone like the man in front of him could easily tell if the oath was worth taking or not. “Two things.” Derek held out two fingers. “First, you are not allowed to tell anyone of this secret of mine in any form of communication.” Derek figured that someone could get around an oath by using loopholes in the wording.

“Second, you are not allowed to use the knowledge of this secret to purposely hurt or hinder me or those I care about.” He said, then thought of something else. “Oh, and my secret may become common knowledge one day. So, when that happens, you will no longer be bound by the oath.”

Walter sat quietly for a bit before talking. “Those aren’t too binding of conditions. I have agreed to worse for less. I must ask you. Will knowing your secret bring any benefit to me or my house?”

“I’m not sure about that. All I can say is that it will give you some peace of mind, and maybe some information that you never knew. What you do with the information is entirely up to you.” Derek replied.

Walter considered it for a while. “Well, since the terms aren’t actually bad, as I have no intent of going against you now, or ever, hopefully, I will agree to them. If for nothing else than to stop wondering about what happened.”

“I Walter Gracefall, formerly Walter Searidge, hereby swear to the Great System to accept your previous conditions as stated.” It was a weird oath, and much different from how the others had given theirs, but the notification popped up just the same.

An oath to the Great System has been made by one, Walter Gracefall, formerly Walter Searidge. This oath is binding until death, or until certain conditions are met. If broken, Walter Gracefall will lose all classes and skills obtained by the Great System, and he will never have access again. Stats will remain as is at the time of breaking the oath.

Derek nodded after seeing the notification of the oath. It was interesting, though. Derek figured that the system had to constantly ‘keep watch’ on its players, as Walter was able to complete an oath without himself laying out the terms. And, because Derek had mentioned that the oath would be void if others ever found out, the notification mentioned the addition of other conditions.

Of course, Derek still did not plan to tell the man the whole truth. Him being from Earth and thus, another system was a huge secret that he would not be sharing.

Derek looked the man in the eyes. “So, what do you know of legendary classes?”

Walter’s eyes widened and he shook his head. “There is not much at all about them. An epic class is already considered peak. The only thing we know is that they have existed before, but there is no one that we know of currently that has one.”

Derek nodded. It was what he expected. “Well, if an epic class gives 20 stat points per level, what do you think a legendary class would give?”

The man shook his head. “I’m not sure, at least 25 or more.”

Derek could tell that Walter had already figured out what he was going to tell him, so he decided to stop the teasing. “A legendary class gains 30 points per level, and the skills…” Derek gave a dramatic pause. “Are quite threatening.” He smiled.

“Now, if someone unlocked a legendary class upon unlocking the great system, how strong do you believe he would be? Even if he had not reached level 100.” Derek left the question hanging in the air.

Walter let out a deep breath. “I suppose the person would be just about as strong as you. That’s what, around 2,800 stat points to be used at level 100. Just one’s basic stats would be outrageous.” The man stared at Derek. “So you…”

“Have a legendary class? Completed the dungeon? Yes.”

Walter’s hands shook in excitement. The door to the kitchen began to open. “Not now!” He yelled, and the servant quickly backed away and shut the door. The older man calmed himself. “Would you mind answering some questions about your class? Not what class it is or anything, just how you went about getting a legendary class.”

Derek nodded. “Depending on the question.”

“Do you know why the class was offered to you? The conditions you met?” Walter excitedly asked.

Derek nodded. “I raised my stats a lot before taking a class. Also, I spent a ton of time alone in different elements to get my class type. So, if I had to help one get a great class, other than desire, I would say to max out your stats before taking a class, even go as far as not hitting level 10 as soon as possible. Train someone until they are 15, or even older. And, if you want a water based class, become one with the water. Train in it, sleep beside it, constantly surround yourself with it.”

“There is a downside to a legendary class, though. The amount of experience points you need to level is at least triple that of a common class.” Derek warned.

Walter nodded his head. “We do train with water, but never have gone as far as surrounding ourselves constantly. It is also very hard to get a child to wait before selecting a class, as they would not want to fall behind their peers. As for the experience, you are a prime example of why that does not matter. If you can run a level 100 undying, elite dungeon by yourself, then you can run a level 100 regular dungeon early on. Even if the experience gained inside is halved, with just hard work, leveling is easy enough.”

“Do you know how well your theory works? Have you experimented with others to unlock great classes?” Walter asked.

Derek nodded. “I have. Only one, though. The highest class she was able to choose was epic, but there were also rare growth classes that may one day turn to legendary or higher. Of course, nobody would be able to train as I did. I am much older than you think. I was almost 30 when I hit level 10.”

Derek was not lying there. Even if his status sheet did not show all the years he spent in the void, he could not forget them. “But, the reward for such preparation is being able to crush anything close to your level, and after leveling some, being able to crush things way above your level.”

Walter nodded. “This girl. Do you mind me asking about her?”

Derek sighed. “One of the reasons that I am checking out the city is because of her. If I tell you about her, you must promise to never act against her, and help protect her if possible. Though, I’m still not sure about Torith as a place to stay. That is another thing I wished to discuss with you today.”