My System Doesn't Give Power

"Siegfried is what you would call a living legend."

Zac’s interest immediately skyrocketed.

Seeing the sudden curiosity on his face, Matilda said, "You seem eager to know more about him."

"Of course. He’s going to make my sword. The more legendary he is, the more excited I’m going to be."

"I wouldn’t get my hopes that high."

"Why?" Confusion clouded Zac’s face.

"Well, first, you need to understand who he actually is." Matilda continued to walk while talking.

"He reached the absolute pinnacle of his field without possessing any particularly notable active combat ability."

"And you know how he accomplished that?"

Zac shook his head.

"Entirely through his ability as a smith."

Matilda glanced at him.

"And his expertise isn’t limited to forging swords or conventional weapons. Siegfried is equally accomplished in creating weapons, armors, artifacts, magical tools, and several other forms of equipment."

"Even his research papers on magical artifacts are regarded as sacred knowledge in certain circles."

"There was once a time when some of the most powerful people in the world would wait outside his door simply for the opportunity to have a single piece of equipment made by him."

Zac looked visibly impressed. "Is he really that good?"

"Good?" Matilda gave him a look. "Many of his creations are considered priceless artifacts."

"So everything he makes is extremely powerful and high-level?"

"Well, that isn’t actually the primary reason he became so famous."

Zac raised an eyebrow in a questioning way.

"Siegfried’s greatest talent was his ability to create weapons perfectly suited to their wielders."

"Where most smiths create generalized weapons. Very few accept custom commissions, and even then, whether the finished weapon will truly harmonize with its user is another matter entirely."

"But Siegfried mastered that field."

"It didn’t matter what kind of fighter you were or how unusual your requirements were. Give him sufficient information about what you needed, and somehow, he would find a way to forge something perfectly compatible with you."

"But that doesn’t mean his creations lacked raw power either."

"I once heard that he forged a weapon whose quality surpassed even S-rank."

Zac stopped walking. "What?" Matilda turned around and saw his amazed face.

"I thought S-rank was the pinnacle for weapons. Scientists have said there could theoretically be something beyond it, but I didn’t know Earth had ever actually produced one."

"Well, textbooks aren’t always perfectly aligned with reality." Matilda’s expression remained composed.

"Those of us in positions of authority may occasionally alter certain information to prevent unnecessary chaos."

Zac stared at her for a moment. "Okay... tell me more."

"The weapon he created was actually a spear. Which is now in the hands of the chairman of the Variant Association."

"Oh, and there’s something else."

Matilda continued, "Siegfried was also once the principal of Ironforge Academy."

"Ironforge? Isn’t that the academy specializing in auxiliary-type variants?"

"Exactly. Ironforge Academy is renowned for producing some of the finest non-combat specialists in the world. Smiths, healers, array specialists, potion makers, mana chefs, and numerous other auxiliary professions."

"It remains one of the greatest institutions in the world for auxiliary-type variants. And for a time, Siegfried stood at its head."

Zac exhaled softly. "So he really was a big shot."

"Was?" Matilda glanced at him. "He still is a big shot."

"Which is exactly why this may be bad news for you."

Zac frowned. "I don’t understand. Why would that be bad news for me?"

"Well, that’s exactly what I’m getting at. You understand how high he stands in the hierarchy, right?"

Zac nodded slowly.

"Then do you genuinely think someone like him is going to care about forging a sword for a first-year student?"

"Even with Vice-Principal Armani’s introduction, I wouldn’t assume he’ll agree. So, if I were you, I wouldn’t get my hopes too high."

Matilda continued,

"Treat this as an opportunity to meet one of the foremost figures in the world, and don’t expect anything beyond that."

"Now you’re actually making me nervous."

"Well, I’m not finished."

"There is still more?"

"Just one more. The main reason I’m being so pessimistic about this is that Siegfried stopped forging weapons for other people nearly ten years ago."

Zac froze. "What?"

"Yeah. As far as I know, he hasn’t accepted a single commission in years."

"Well... Arman... I mean, the vice-principal forgot to mention that."

Matilda clearly heard him nearly call Armani by name and also clearly noticed how quickly he corrected himself. But she chose to behave as though she hadn’t heard anything.

"If what you’re saying is true, then why would she send me to him?"

"I couldn’t tell you." Matilda shrugged lightly. "And honestly, no one could answer that except the vice-principal herself."

"She usually makes sense only to herself. Whatever she does, somehow, it only seems logical from her perspective."

Zac silently followed behind her, his earlier excitement now entangled with uncertainty. "This has become far more complicated than it needed to be."

[Your life has a remarkable talent for that.]

Zac sighed. "Why can’t anything ever be easy?"

Matilda glanced back. "What?"

"Nothing. I’m just grieving over my own life."

"Well, good luck with that." She turned forward again. "You’ll probably need it."

Early the next morning, Zac stood at the gates of New Dawn Academy.

Standing directly in his way was the same perpetually grumpy old man he had met when he first arrived at the academy: Matron, the head of security at the academy gates.

The man looked to be in his fifties, with a permanent scowl etched across his face that made him appear even older.

He glanced at Zac approaching and grunted. "First-years aren’t allowed to leave the academy realm for the first six months unless they’re expelled."

"But, sir, the six-month period is already over."

Matron narrowed his eyes. "Is it? Then you’ve already got a mission?"

"No, sir. I’m leaving for a personal matter."

"Hmm." Matron folded his arms and looked at Zac. "That’s what I thought. Now turn around and get out of here before I call your class instructor."

"But I have an authorization letter permitting me to leave the academy."

"Then quit standing there and show me. You should’ve done that before all this nonsense." With that, Matron practically snatched the letter from Zac’s hand.

"This better not be your own handiwork, kid. If you forged an instructor’s authorization, you’re in for one hell of a ride."

"It’s real."

"We’ll see about that."

Matron carefully read through the letter several times. Eventually, he lowered it and gave Zac a peculiar look.

"Kid, this isn’t my first rodeo. I’ve watched plenty of first-years come through these gates trying every excuse imaginable to get outside."

"Family emergencies, important appointments, dying pets, and sick grandmothers."

Matron scoffed. "It’s funny how many grandmothers suddenly recover the moment I tell them I’m going to verify the story before letting anyone out."

Zac remained silent.

"But permission like this?" Matron looked at the letter again. "That doesn’t happen often."

His gaze returned to Zac. "You must have some connections looking out for you."

"And usually, connections like that don’t amount to much in New Dawn Academy. So if they worked in your case, you must have someone fairly high in the hierarchy looking after you, don’t you?"

"Sir, there’s nothing like that."

[Liar.]

"Shut up!"

"I genuinely have something important to take care of. That’s why I was given permission."

"Whatever you say." Matron handed the letter back. "But since this is your first time leaving the realm, let me give you some advice."

"The moment you get outside, before wandering anywhere, download the official city map from the Variant Association’s website and use that to get wherever you need to go."

"Don’t start asking random people for directions, and don’t trust strangers who suddenly offer to help you."

"There are people outside who make a living preying on inexperienced kids like you."

He then reached into his pocket and pulled out a small blue stone covered in intricate runic inscriptions. "Here. Take this."

"It’s a return stone. It contains the coordinates of New Dawn Academy’s pocket dimension."

"When you’re finished with whatever business you’re going out for, head to the nearest teleportation center and crush it."

Matron paused. "And don’t activate that thing until you’re certain there aren’t any prying eyes around."

Zac frowned. "But doesn’t everyone already know the academy exists inside a pocket dimension? Why keep it so secret?"

Matron stared at him with an almost painful expression. "You really don’t know much, do you?"

[My host is rather ignorant. My apologies.]

"Whose side are you on?"

Matron continued,

"Knowing that the academy exists inside a pocket dimension and knowing its exact spatial coordinates are two entirely different things."

"If someone sees you activating that stone openly, there are methods they can use to trace or lock onto those coordinates."

His expression darkened. "And once they have them, who knows what the hell they might try to do later?"

"Has something like that actually happened before?"

Matron gave Zac another hard glare.

Zac nodded slowly. "I’ll take that as a yes."

Zac slipped the return stone into his inventory. "Anyway, thank you, Mr. Matron."

"Don’t thank me yet. Just come back alive so I don’t have paperwork to fill out."

Matron stepped aside and began walking back toward his office. "Now get moving before I change my mind."

Zac nodded and walked toward the exit portal, and without looking back, he stepped through.