God damn, AND a Title for speedrunning to D Grade? Jordan asked himself with disbelief. Now, that was something he just couldn’t let go of. As the actual final point to address before moving on, he made sure to immediately ask about what kind of numbers its bonuses gave. Just like before, Haje’s answer was both direct and rather casual.
It was plus 15 points to all stats, along with the 15% bonus to match.
It only took Jordan a moment to realize just how awesome of a single Title that was. In terms of the flat number of Stats given, it was equal to what he got just now as the first to expand a Kingdom, and his High Lord Title, combined. The only upside was that while the percentage bonus to all Stats would also have been equal, his latest Title had also come with that extra 10% to add to any single Stat.
A part of him wondered about what other Titles the large rock man might have. For example, did he also get the Adept of Advancement Title for the three flat and three percent Stat bonuses? All that required was both gaining a new Skill and evolving a current one, which should have theoretically been doable for Haje. Even without the use of Advancement Crystals, that would just have required using the Level-based reward he got at Level 6, and then apparently Level 11 from his earlier remark.
And finally, there was the modification from his Class to consider too. Jordan’s gave him an extra point per Level for both Wisdom and Intelligence. Though if your Class was basically just a numbers go up generator that didn’t seem to care about any particular builds or paths in itself, then what kind of mod would that give? He could only assume that at this point, it’d be something like an extra point for each and every Stat.
However, while it’d be easy for him to ask that and more questions, Jordan hesitated. While Haje didn’t seem to really care, this was starting to feel like a one-sided interrogation instead of an actual conversation like before. Where he’d eventually annoy the other party at worst, or bore him at best. And when dealing with someone who seems to love the thrill of fighting, even the latter of boredom might lead to some potential complications.
“Jordan, I enjoyed your story. But if you would call yourself my friend, then you must do something. A tradition, one of the few of the old ways that my clan continued to pass down. Strike me with your mightiest blow, so that we might see if it can leave a mark upon my body.” Haje then stood up, and gestured to his torso.
Huh, well then. I thought he was about to ask for a straight-up brawl with our bare hands or something. But once I do it, will he want to hit me with his strongest hit in return? Don’t think my soft and squishy waterbag of a body can handle that… so let’s check first, before committing to anything.
“Alright then, I just need to use a Skill to summon that thing you probably saw earlier. But just to ask now, will you want to hit me back in return? Just to know if I should be preparing myself, I mean,” Jordan quickly clarified that last point, in order to hopefully at least seem less cowardly about the idea.
“Mmm,” Haje pondered the question. “You wish to summon that thing from before as the one to deliver the strike itself? If that is the case, then that object is what I will strike in return to cement our friendship. Come then, as I said, you may go first.”
Jordan nodded, now feeling a lot more relieved that he wouldn’t be the one getting hit. With just a thought, he summoned a new land drone to appear in front of him. And when he checked his current TP, it also fully confirmed that each land drone would now reserve 1/6th of his total Tech Points.
Resources:
Tech Points: 23.2/25 (31)
Tech Points Regen: 11.62/Min
Huh, looks like the System’s doing more rounding. 1/6th should mean 16.67%, but to get 25 out of 31 is more like… 20%, roughly. Well, shit, that’s not good. If it’s just rounding up, then I won’t see an actual benefit from the Scaling like I’m supposed to. Man… that just sucks. What’s the point of the permanent army option, then, if the Scaling isn’t even properly implemented to work the way it’s advertised? Jordan mentally complained.
If it kept going like this, then he wouldn’t see a big difference until it reached either 1/9th or just 1/10 the reserve cost, depending on if it chose to round the former. While it should at least even out for the latter, then what would happen after that? Would 1/14th of the cost still get rounded up to 10%? Would he have to keep upping the Scaling until it was brought all the way down to 5%?
On the other hand, Jordan’s mind was quick to think of a potential solution. Rounding to a whole number had a bigger effect for smaller numbers. To go from 19.5 to 20 was a relatively bigger difference than 99.5 to 100, just in terms of the scale of that change when compared to the final result. So if he actually began to prioritize increasing Intelligence in order to increase his max TP in turn…
For the time being, he put the thought aside as he approached the drone. If all he got was a single attack, then Jordan would just put as many stacks of Overcharge as he could into the guns. Or, at the very least, enough for the most powerful blast possible while still below the point where the whole thing would get overloaded and just go kaboom.
“Well… hope you’ll be ready in just a few seconds. Because once I get this thing powered up for its shot, I’ll only have that long to get the attack off. Oh, and both of these barrels will shoot the attack at the same time. If that’s okay to still count as just one?” With that warning, Jordan sent a mental command for the drone to aim and then hold its fire until ready. On that note, he then cast Overcharge and directed the first use into its twin guns.
Haje just stood there, his upper arms crossed while the other pair hung at his sides. It was hard to say for sure with the lack of eyes to read. But just from the way his head was pointed, he seemed to already be staring directly into the barrels that would momentarily unleash the dual energy blasts. Without any comment to say otherwise, it seemed he was okay with counting them as a single blow.
The land drone’s body became hot enough to have an effect on the cold air and snow around it. And feeling that it’d taken as many Overcharge stacks as it could take, Jordan wasted no time. With its guns already aimed at the target, he gave it the signal to fire just one shot.
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From its barrels, a pair of energy blasts practically exploded out. The force from which they were fired was just shy of warping the metal of the barrels themselves. With only a few feet between it and Haje, it barely took the blink of an eye for the energy bolts to travel that distance. They slammed into the central torso with a small shower of sparks and…
Nothing. Haje didn’t even react to the impact from the energy bolts. Not a flinch, or even being moved back a single inch from the force of the impact itself. When Jordan looked at the spot where they landed, it didn’t even look like they’d actually done anything, either. As far as he could tell, it was as if the drone might as well have not fired to begin with.
The stone giant then took a few steps forward. Looming over the comparatively small land drone, he then raised one of his longer, lower arms with a closed fist. Then with a strike that made Jordan take a step back with how shockingly fast it came down, relative to his size, he punched straight through the top of the drone.
Holy- did he just…? Jordan asked as Haje then lifted his arm back up, with the drone still attached. That’s when he saw it. Rather than just punch through the body of the land drone, Haje had actually just punched through the drone itself. Because now, poking out the bottom from between its treads, was his rocky fist.
Haje pushed the busted drone off his arm. “To have another object attack on its own is a strange Skill. But that was a mighty attack, one that I would proudly consider as worthy for one to call my friend.”
“Uhh, thank you?” Jordan replied with a small frown as the praise felt weird for how little the bolts did. “But was it really that good of an attack? Doesn’t seem like it really did anything, especially since you didn’t even react to it.”
“Oh, is that what you think?” Haje chuckled. “If so, then you must take a closer look.”
He then helpfully pointed at one spot in particular. Still unsure, Jordan stepped right up to him and looked at the bit of stone that was right before the giant’s finger. Now with his eyes squinted, he tried to take as careful of a look at it as he could. And then, he noticed it. Something that could technically be considered as a dent but could easily be mistaken as just a minor blemish instead. If one were to sell a car with this dent, it would take the most stringent dealer in the world to take notice of it during their inspection.
“Unlike animals and other creatures of flesh, we Jabelites do not heal from our injuries. A scar on our bodies is a scar for life. By putting many points between Strength and Endurance, my own body is now even tougher than what the toughest members of my clan once boasted. Be proud, Jordan. If you perish in the days to come, then the memory of my first friend on this world will still be forever marked on my body.”
“Huh, well… that’s good to know. Speaking of which, you keep mentioning your clan. Did any of them come with you when we all got transported here?” Jordan inquired.
At that question, Haje’s tall frame noticeably lowered a bit. It was hard to say due to how inherently inflexible his body seemed to be, but Jordan imagined it to be equivalent to someone hunching down.
“No, I am… alone,” he spoke in a low voice. There was a sadness in his tone that would have been almost impossible to miss. And when Haje chose not to elaborate immediately, Jordan made the prudent decision not to pry further.
“Now then!” Haje suddenly exclaimed with a straightened form. “When I fell into this cave, the System said that I entered the territory of a Kingdom called Industry. I believe that this Kingdom belongs to you?”
Jordan blinked. He hadn’t known that was even a thing that people got notified about. As far as things to keep in mind went, that was a rather important note that could now be filed away in the old mental folder.
“Yeah, I started a Kindom a couple of days ago. Just had the chance to expand its territory to here, right before we met. Didn’t you also get that Temporary Quest on the first day and a feeling pulling you to claim a Mandate? That’s what I did, before claiming the Mandate that was right here,” Jordan freely explained, as something he didn’t mind openly sharing about.
“Mmm, I did. But it was while I was on the hunt for worthy creatures to slay, so I did not care for the Quest itself. Now when I still remain so behind on the leaderboard for Levels. Unlike my home, it is hard to find foes here,” Haje complained.
Jordan felt a bit confused by that remark. It was a good point. If the rocky giant had been in these mountains this whole time, then how exactly was he still only Level 4? Especially when there were higher Level enemies around, and he didn’t seem to be afraid of still fighting stronger enemies. So why did Jordan’s drones find so many after just one night, while his new friend seemed to be struggling over the last few days?
Wait, the Ice Spirit. Didn’t it say that it only got hostile around stuff above a certain temperature? If Haje is just stone all the way through and doesn’t produce his own body heat, then from its perspective, wouldn’t he just be a weird kind of rock? If one were to assume that other monsters here did that same thing as a sort of theme, then it might make sense. Since compared to the freezing air, even just the heat of the drones as they moved around would still be enough of a temperature difference to trigger stuff, Jordan theorized.
“Well, Haje. Since we’re friends now, I might actually be able to help you with that. My summon should be able to find stuff for you to fight, if you just follow it around. But since you already know that this is part of my Kingdom in this little cave, and I don’t know if you’d get any benefits from this, but how about you join my Kingdom as a member? Ah, and feel free to say no. It’s just that there’s nobody else but me, so I honestly have no idea if it’d even do anything for you,” he proposed.
And that was due to another little quirk by the System. This time in the form of one of the screens that he could bring up, regarding his Kingdom.
Population: 0
Jordan himself didn’t seem to actually count as a member. Something that he believed was another point for the idea that a Lord couldn’t willingly give up control, but more likey had to die. Because while it could just be him reaching for an assumption, it did seem like that a Lord was considered not under the Kingdom, but was part of the Kingdom itself in a fundamental sense.
The stone giant was silent for a couple of moments. During the pause, Jordan swallowed. Had he offended Haje in some way? From the way he’d spoken about his clan, was the offer to join his Kingdom now something that he might have taken badly?
“Mmm, I do not see a reason to say no. Yes,” Haje then said, while his head appeared to not be looking directly at Jordan, but somewhere slightly off to the side.
The Kingdom invitation has been accepted!
Citizen name: Haje
Note!
As a Kingdom with a Lord and at least one citizen, a Guild can automatically be established! Would the user like to form and name this Guild now?
Yes/No
“Oh!” Jordan said aloud, before looking back up at his new citizen. “Hey, Haje… just one more thing.” After then briefly explaining the latest pop-up to him, his companion had just one thing to say.
“Well, what are you waiting for? If it is for the third Quest, then let us form it now and see where the Guild leaderboard stands.”