Apocalypse Redux

Chapter 138: Stress Testing

“Hey Isaac, I’m getting some food from the cart outside, do you want anything?” Karl asked as he walked past his office. Isaac’s door was closed, but with their level of senses, that didn’t really matter. Sure, everyone politely pretended that they weren’t all fully aware of what everyone else was doing, but that didn’t change the fact that having a regular conversation with someone who was already walking away through a closed door was now perfectly doable without even having to yell.

“Is it any good?” Isaac asked. The cart had appeared at some point during his walkabout and somehow, he’d managed to avoid interacting with it beyond the mere fact that he knew it was there.

“If the cook made normal food, it would be divine. After all, she’s Level 15.” Karl said “But she’s always experimenting with ingredients only available thanks to the [System], so the food can be a little hit or miss.”

“But would she really be that high a Level already if she weren’t constantly playing with new ingredients?” Isaac asked “Hell, it’s a miracle she’s already as high a Level as she is. Or does she summon as well?”

“It’s probably got something to do with the fact that she’s getting a lot of ingredients from us.” Karl said “Hydra steak, Drake goulash, all that stuff.”

“Please tell me she makes sure to detoxify everything because Hydra meat is usually fatally toxic.”

“All I can say is: she always tries and even if she fails, she always gets better the next time. Apparently, trying to make a Hydra steak edible got her a whole entire Level.”

“Sounds interesting, and like something the health department would have a massive problem with.” Isaac said.

Karl sighed “You literally have to sign a release that you’re willing to take a chance on her food before you’re allowed to order anything. It doesn’t save her from the consequences of true negligence, and she still has to take massive numbers of precautions, but it still feels like you’re taking your life in hand every time you order.”

“I suppose it doesn’t hurt to have Bailey and his healing here, does it?” Isaac asked.

“Apparently, that was one of the reasons she was even able to open that shop.” Karl said “No magic healing, no experimental food. At least that’s what Wechsler said the last time he dropped by.”

“How is our favorite lawyer, anyway?” Isaac asked.

“Overworked and underappreciated by everyone except us.” Karl said.

Thomas Wechsler was their team’s liaison with the Ministry of Food and Agriculture, working to make sure their experiments were legal. Originally, he’d been right there in the room with them to constantly approve new experiments, but that role had slowly become superfluous as proper rules and regulations about experiments with monsters were established.

… which had done precisely nothing to lighten the man’s workload and that apparently continued to be a problem. Hell, it was probably worse now because instead of sitting in the same room as a bunch of scientist and rubber stamping a couple of documents every day to having to do his regular work amidst the upheaval created by the [System].

“Eh, that’s the fate of many public servants.” Isaac shrugged “I’ll make sure to get him something ... actually, I think I gotta go.”

Isaac wasn’t a big fan of just running away from conversations like this, but he really wanted to follow up on his latest [System] message ASAP.

Congratulations, Hildebrand’s Heir, for granting the world another legend!

Under and thanks to your support and tutelage, Helmut Stagmer has claimed the Class of “Wayland’s Heir”.

For crafting one of your students into a person of truly exemplary, world shaking ability, you have gained 5,000 XP!

… what. Isaac’s just dropped. Sure, as a trainer-[Class] he could and did get XP from, well, training people, but that had been a trickle of one and two points at a time, with time spans ranging from thirty minutes to several hours in between each awarding. This was on a whole other level, though.

Sure, he’d known that having a [Class] partially built around training others would let him gain XP from following that non-combat path, but 5,000 XP was more than he’d ever expected to get.

Of course, 5,000 XP were worth barely more than a seventh of a Level to Isaac, but he was an entire evolutionary step and over forty Levels above his ‘trainee’. 5,000 XP was the exact amount needed to hit Level 25 and evolve, so the amount made sense and was commensurate with their comparative powerlevels.

The phrasing ‘granting the world another legend’ was also very informative. Hildebrand was the teacher of a king who’d turned into a legend, and apparently, that was the requirement for those big chunks of XP. It also explained why Isaac hadn’t gained much XP from training the others.

His team members had a level of power and [Class]-rarity that would have also qualified them as a ‘legend’, but he’d done all the teaching prior to becoming [Hildebrand’s Heir]. Sure, their Evolutions had occurred afterhis, but he hadn’t done any training in between those two incidents and as such, in the eyes of the [System], Isaac was apparently not deserving of any credit.

Isaac’s interns, meanwhile were yet to evolve and that was most likely the big chunks of XP would be doled out.

At the end of the day, it was nice to be able to get XP in an additional way, but there was the small caveat of needing to create actual legends to gain useable amounts.

And even if he did manage to create people at the required Level power, levelling by killing monsters would still be faster. After all, ‘murder’ was still the fastest way to power in this new world.

“Uh, Isaac, are you ok?” Karl asked, realizing that Isaac wasn’t going to keep talking.

“Sorry.” Isaac apologized “Something came up and I got lost in thought. Thanks for offering the food, but I’m afraid I gotta go, see you later.

And with that, he jetted off, phase-leaping through the building and out on the plaza outside, then headed over to the crafter’s village. Sure, he didn’t need to talk to Stagmer right the hell now, but Isaac was burning with curiosity. He really wanted to know what his favorite [Blacksmith] could now do.

However, he didn’t even have to reach the forge to meet the man as he was currently in the process of coming over to the team’s building, a gleaming helmet tucked under one arm.

“Hey Helmut.” Isaac greeted, slowing down to the speed of a casual walk as he did so.

“Oh, Isaac, I was just coming over to see if you’d help me stress-test this thing.” Stagmer said, handing over the helmet.

Inferior Copy of the Helmet Hildegrim

A piece of armor out of ancient myth and legend, recreated by the Skill of Isaac Thoma, the Auric Sage and copied by the blacksmith Helmut Stagmer.

It is the finest piece created by human hands in the modern age, though it is incomparable to the genuine article. Yet save the original, there is nothing that can surpass its protective abilities.

This helmet not only provides immense protection against all kinds of impacts for the skull itself, it also reduces the other consequences of taking a blow to the head, such as spinal trauma, whiplash or concussions.

It was still not the juggernaut of defensive power that the original helm was, a complete set on that level of power would have made the wearer the closest thing to invulnerable, but it was still incredibly powerful.

And the [System] agreed, given that it had removed the ‘vastly’ from the item description.

“That is one nice helmet.” Isaac said “But are you sure you want to stress test it? I don’t think it would survive …”

“Oh, it will, at least with a little elbow grease. I got this new [Skill] with my Evolution, it …” Stagmer closed his mouth with an audible click as Isaac held up his hand.

“Announcing your [Skills] where anyone could hear is not a good idea when you’re in the public eye. And believe me, when your new [Class] becomes public, you will be. That’s why I created a field around us that makes overhearing with enhanced senses impossible.” Isaac explained.

“But I’m not famous yet.” Stagmer said “Why would someone care about what I say now?”

“Because there are plenty of people wo try to listen in on my research team.” Isaac said “And we’re literally right next door to that building, close enough for them to hear.”

“Isn’t that a little, well, paranoid?” Stagmer asked “I get what you’re saying, but this sounds like something out of an old school spy drama.”

“You’d think so, but there are people looking out for all high Level or important individuals. Some apparently are there to protect them, for example, German intelligence is working to protect my family.” Isaac explained “Either way, people not being able to predict what you’re capable off outside of beyond making quality weapons and armor will be to your benefit.”

“Hm, that’s a dark way of seeing things.” Stagmer grumbled “But no one can overhear us, right?”

“Unless they’re somehow standing between us, no.” Isaac said.

“Good.” Stagmer replied “Basically, I got a few great [Skills] available from [Wayland’s Heir], my new [Class].”

Then, he facepalmed.

“Right, I forgot to tell you after you interrupted me: I hit Level 25, evolved and was offered [Wayland’s Heir] as a [Class] because I’d recreated one of his swords.”

“Actually, that’s why I was coming to visit you in the first place.” Isaac said, quickly explaining how he’d received a message prompt.

“That’s … a little weird, I guess.” Stagmer replied, sounding a little put out by the fact that someone else was receiving such detailed progress updates about his person, but continued nonetheless “Anyway, I got a few cool [Skills] I want to get, including one that lets me apply my expertise at bladesmithing to every project I do in the forge, even if it’s something completely different, like this helmet. Then I got one that is meant to let me recreate some of Wayland’s greatest works, though apparently, their usefulness scales with my Level.

“And then I got a [Skill] that lets me test my creations under ‘battlefield conditions’, then have them automatically fix themselves afterwards. It takes a lot of mana, but it can also take that from volunteers who are involved in the process.”

“So I can just cut loose? Or are there some kinds of stated limits?” Isaac asked.

“Please don’t atomize it?” Stagmer asked, half serious, half joking.

“I honestly don’t think I could without using specific [Skills] meant to do that. Hildegrim is looking tough today.”

Stagmer laughed.

“How about we go to the yard behind my house?” the blacksmith suggested.

“Sure.”

And then, a few minutes later, they stood in a large grassy field with the helmet resting on a rock.

Helmut Stagmer would like to activate the Skill “Consequence-free Testing” to experiment with a piece of equipment while working with you. Donate 500 mana to support this Skill?

Y/N?

Isaac, of course, clicked yes.

“Ready?” he asked, turning around to look at Stagmer to ensure he had safely hidden behind a tree. He could have looked with his [Aura], of course, but sometimes, it was important that other people knew you were paying attention to them.

And later on, once this was done, he’d walk Stagmer through picking and using his own [Aura], but now, it was helmet-smashing time.

Isaac manifested a normal, regular sword via [Armory of Ancient Times] because he knew that Mimung, Balmung or even one of Old Reliable’s other forms would not have been a proper test, they were just too strong.

He lifted the sword above his head and brought it down at full power … and the sword practically leaped out of his hand after bouncing off the target, while the helmet only gained a small scratch.

Thankfully, the stinging in Isaac’s hand faded in less than a second thanks to his regeneration.

“Impressive.” Isaac remarked “I’d like to try hitting it a little harder.”

“Sure, go ahead.” Stagmer encouraged.

“Ok, [Power Strike].”

A large dent was created, but that was buffed out a mere moment later. The end result would have been very unpleasant for the person actually wearing the helmet, but hardly fatal or even particularly debilitating. The metal would have bent far enough to cut the scalp of the wearer, but not crack the skull.

“Hit it harder.” Was all Stagmer said in response.

“[2x Power Strike].” Isaac said, intentionally misnaming [Legendary Blow].

‘boom!’

“… please tell me you have a way of getting that helmet back?” Stagmer asked plaintively, staring at the massive hole amidst the shards of the rock that had served as an anvil.

“Yep.” Isaac said grimly.

On second thought, it was rather apparent what had happened. The helmet had clearly taken a lot more damage, but the sheer force hadn’t just exceeded what the helmet could withstand but also utterly overwhelmed the whiplash protection for the ‘wearer’, aka, the stone it had been sitting on. As such, the stone had been pulverized and the helmet punted close to a hundred meters into the ground.

Isaac phased, falling through the ground until he reached the twisted mass of metal which was all that was left of the helmet, grabbed it, and leaped back out. By the time he was walking over towards Stagmer, it was back in one piece, though.

“That is one hell of a helmet.” Isaac exclaimed “Now, I know you’ve got a lot of work to catch up on, but once you’re done with that, do you think you could create a suit of armor fit for a king?”