Cedric stared at the Orb in his hand. It pulsed with a cold, ethereal light, the remnants of the slain Drake Mother distilled into a single, pearlescent sphere. Steven, still reeling from the battle, stood a respectful distance away, his hands resting on the hilt of his greatsword, ready to intervene only if absolute disaster struck.
"A system message like that is unheard of," Cedric murmured, turning the Orb over. "'Anomaly-tier'... The creation of a Legendary Beast by the Goddess of Creation must mean it operates outside the established rules of the Player System. A perfect chance for a calculated risk."
The risk was real. Consuming a material that the System itself flagged as an 'Anomaly' could lead to anything from instantaneous death to a chaotic corruption of his soul. But for a strategic mind like Cedric's, the potential reward outweighed the established dangers of standard monster cores. He was not looking for standard power; he was looking for an edge, a cheat code that would allow a Level 1 Lord in a Level 5 region to survive long enough to matter.
He brought the Orb to his lips. It was freezing, a bone-chilling cold that seemed to draw the warmth straight out of the atmosphere. The moment it crossed the threshold, the world dissolved into a blinding flash of blue and white.
A low, resonant chime—unlike the standard system alert—vibrated through his very being, followed by a torrent of notifications.
[WARNING! Anomaly Detected! Unique Soul Core consumed.]
[Processing... High-Density Chaos Magic detected. System attempt to normalize failed.]
[The core essence of the Drake Mother, forged by The Creator, resists assimilation into the standard 'Player' framework.]
Cedric gasped, his knees buckling as the cold became an agonizing burn in his chest. It wasn't the searing heat of a poison, but the internal crystallization of his magical channels. It felt as if his blood was being replaced with liquid nitrogen.
[System forced to create a new, compatible structure.]
[ERROR: Standard Class Progression tree corrupted.]
[New Class Found: Cryo-Mage (Rank Unknown)]
[Congratulations! You have obtained Dual Class Status.]
[The Glitch has begun.]
He fell to the snow, steam rising from his body as the intense internal cold clashed with his body heat. When he finally opened his eyes, the familiar blue System window was overlaid with a new, icy-white one that flickered slightly, like a weak broadcast signal.
He struggled to his feet and immediately accessed his status.
Name: Cedric 'The Strategist'
Class: [Lord] / [Cryo-Mage]
Level: 1 Experience: 3,500 / 10,000
HP: 150 / 150 MP: 250 / 250 (+150 Base)
Attributes - Base
Strength - 10
Dexterity - 15
Vitality - 15
Intelligence - 25
Charm- 18
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A/N - I know that the stats looks trash, but hear me out. The original boy was called the weakest silver knight and the cryo-mage class is a late bloomer so read atleast 30 chapters before quitting.
Regards
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The change was instantaneous and dramatic. His Intelligence had spiked from 10 to 25. He hadn't just gained a class; he had fundamentally altered his foundational abilities. The Orb, meant to bestow a powerful blessing, had instead shattered the System's intended limits, unlocking his true potential for tactical magic.
A new skills tab glowed:
Cryo-Mage Skills -
[Frost Shroud] - Active
Description: Creates a sphere of supercooled air around the caster, reducing all fire damage taken by 50% and slowing all enemies who enter the sphere by 20%.
Mana Cost: 50 MP Duration: 30 seconds
[Ice Lance] Active
Description: Fires a concentrated shard of ice magic, dealing 150% Magic Damage. Has a 10% chance to inflict [Freeze] status on target.
Mana Cost: 30 MP Range: 20 meters
[ More skills to be unlocked/learned. ]
"Commander... are you well?" Steven asked, concern etched on his grizzled face.
Cedric tested his new power, flexing his hand. A delicate, crystalline layer of frost instantly coated his gauntlet, only to vanish a moment later. "Never better, Steven. We have just leveled up our entire operation."
He took a deep, steadying breath. The freezing sensation was now contained, residing within him like a reservoir of potential energy. He knew he had to keep this a secret from everyone—even Steven, for now—especially the details of the 'Glitch' and the 'Anomaly-tier' consumption. The Queen's spies were everywhere, and true power was best wielded from the shadows.
"The immediate threat is neutralized, but the true threat remains," Cedric stated, his voice returning to its calm, measured tone. He walked over to the immense carcass of the Drake Mother, which lay half-buried in the snow, its skin iridescent and thick.
"Steven, have the men start processing the monster. We need every ounce of its hide, bone, and core remnants. This is too valuable to leave for the scavengers. We will need large amounts of specialized preservation salts."
"Salts, Commander? That will cost a fortune, even from the capital's stores."
"It won't," Cedric countered, pulling a map from his pack. "Because we aren't going to the capital. We're going to the only people in this territory who understand rare metal and high-density material processing."
He traced a line from the outpost, westward, into the rugged, untamed foothills.
"We have proven we can kill a threat with cunning and strategy, but survival in this territory is a logistics problem disguised as a military one," Cedric explained, his mind already three steps ahead. "The territory is rich in iron, but our output is minimal. We have a mountain of high-grade leather, but no tanners. We have Drake bones, stronger than steel, but no smiths who can work them. We are sitting on gold, but we lack the tools to use the coin."
Steven followed his gaze on the map. "You mean... the legends? The ones who wander the mountains, and are rarely seen?"
"Exactly. The Wandering Dwarves," Cedric confirmed, a cold, calculated smile touching his lips. "They are masters of metallurgy, their culture steeped in the working of rare materials. They avoid civilization, but they have a fatal flaw: they are obsessed with unique resources and rare ore—resources we now have in abundance."
He tapped the spot on the map, his tone shifting to one of absolute urgency and focus.
"The Barbarians will be here within a week, maybe less. We need walls, weapons, and armor that can withstand a siege, and we cannot afford to wait months for supplies from Veridia. The Queen's plan is to let us freeze to death out here."
Cedric's eyes narrowed, the internal image of the Demoness Queen a cold spur to action. He looked out over the barren, snow-covered landscape of the Northern Territory.
"We have just entered the deadliest season, Steven. The cold is not merely a feature of this land; it is a weapon. The Barbarians are coming. The Queen is watching. The System is acting erratically."
He paused, letting the strategic weight of his next words settle over his trusted Captain. The air around him seemed to drop a few degrees, a subtle manifestation of his new power and his deadly resolve.
"Make no mistake, Captain," Cedric said, his voice low and hard, echoing the subtle pop culture reference he knew Steven—a man raised on old Northern tales—would internalize.
"Winter is coming.
if we do not prepare by acquiring the means to defend ourselves, we will be buried in the snow, forgotten. Our first priority is to secure the services of the Dwarves. We must find them, and we must convince them that their fortune lies with The Kingdom of Veridia's most forsaken outpost."
[New Quest Alert: Forge an Alliance]
[Objective: Locate and establish a symbiotic relationship with the Wandering Dwarves.]
[Reward: Access to Master-Tier Blacksmithing and Engineering Services. Unique Crafting Blueprints.]
[Failure Condition: The Dwarves abandon the territory, or the Northern Outpost is sacked.]
Cedric ignored the System notification. The quest was secondary; the survival of his new kingdom was everything. The new, chaotic power surging through him had not made him rash; it had made him decisive. The next move had to be swift, calculated, and executed with cold precision.
He was no longer just a Lord. He was a Cryo-Mage, a Dual Class anomaly, and the Architect of his own survival. And the very first thing an Architect needed was a skilled builder