System Change

Captain Bronson had told Guard Lieutenant Areyas to gather a few others that had the Geyser spell and report to the guest residence. That was easy enough, as Kellen and Emma both had the spell and were already following him. He grabbed Jared along the way and led them to the house.

When they arrived at the guest residence, they went inside and reported to the oddly dressed man with black hair and purple eyes. The purple eyes were disturbing. The man seemed raring to go, as he jumped up and had them lead him to an empty room in the barracks. None of the guards asked any questions because Bronson had told Areyas to treat the man the same way that they would treat Master Gracefall.

Areyas led them to the barracks, then into a room that was mostly empty. There were just a few broken weapons lying around. Captain Bronson and he had been trying to decide what to do with the room, but they could not come to an agreement. There were not enough guards to warrant beds, and their gear was already optimally stored, so it was not needed for that either.

The man looked around the empty room. “This will do nicely.” Then he looked towards Emma. “Do you have a separate room to change in than the male guards?” He bluntly asked.

Emma furrowed her brow slightly, understanding what he was asking. “No sir, I am a guard. While others choose to do so, I do not need any special treatment.”

The man nodded to her. “Good.” Then he looked back at Areyas. “Are you able to clean water up easily?”

“Yes, sir. We are all water mages. We can gather small amounts of water and move it as we please.” He replied.

“Very good.” The man eyed the four guards. “Today, you are going to help me take a shower.”

***

Areyas and the other guards stared in stunned silence at the man who was slowly pulling an odd tunic over his head. Captain Bronson had told him that they would be training with this, Derek, but this was shocking.

The man had told them they were going to help him take a shower, which they had no idea what he was talking about. Then Derek began to remove his clothes. Derek was already intimidating, but when he removed his odd tunic, it was enough to make Emma gasp.

His torso was covered in scars. Each one looked deadlier than the last. The guards were not even able to find it odd that the man was standing in the nude in front of them. Their minds occupied solely on the scars. Then, Derek gave the command to cast Geyser on him one at a time. When one’s mana ran out, the other was to begin.

This led them to where they were now. Derek walked out of the room after thanking them and reminding them to not forget about the water on the floor. Emma was the first to break the silence. “M-my Geyser went up two levels.”

Areyas had not even noticed any notifications, but after checking, his spell had also gained a level. “Mine went up one.” He said. “Did you see those scars?” He asked.

The others nodded, not commenting.

Areyas released a sigh. “Do you think Captain Bronson could stand in front of a Geyser without taking damage?” He asked the group.

“No.” Kellen replied. “He would be cooked alive. Maybe not instantly, but definitely after being blasted for so long… I’m pretty sure I heard that man humming a tune while being hit.” Kellen shivered.

“At least now we know why Captain told us to treat him well.” Areyas scanned the room. “We shouldn’t let others know about this.” He said. The other all nodded. Areyas then walked to the soaked floor and raised his hand. The water slowly rose from the ground and he moved it, bit by bit, to a bucket. He looked at Jared. “Go get a tub, this is going to take a while.”

***

Derek walked from the barracks towards the guest residence. He was in a pretty good mood. This was the cleanest he had felt in a long while. The only bad thing was the loss of his bar of soap. One thing he had not thought about was how fast the super heated water would dissolve it. He only had a few, so he felt the loss.

Oh well, you win some. You lose some. He thought. He did get a good chuckle out of seeing the guards’ reactions when he told them to hit him with the spell. Then their reactions afterwards were priceless.

The other thing he was most happy about was the two levels he gained in Magic Resistance. It was all the way up to level 10 now. His natural magic resistance was already at 15%. When the Geyser first started hitting him, it was hot, and his flesh slowly turned pink. But, after getting used to it, it felt like a nice warm shower.

If I have time, I should get a rune, metal, and water mage to help me make an actual shower that normal people can use. Baths are good for relaxing, but I think better when taking a shower. He already had an idea in mind about how he would go about designing a magic shower.

He would not actually need a water mage for it, but it would be easier than physically filling up a container himself. It was actually quite simple, if the runes existed. He would just have the rune mage apply some heat and pressure runes to a container filled with water. A pipe would run up, ending in a covered shower head. Remove the cover and he could have a hot shower. It would need some testing, but it should work.

Derek eventually ended up back at the guest residence while thinking these random thoughts. Awaiting him at the house was Thomas and Silvi. Thomas was actually looking cleaner than ever and was dressed in some clothing Derek knew was not his.

“What happened to you?” Derek asked.

“Bronson came by looking for you. I told him you were with the guards. He had someone bring me this.” He motioned at the tunic and pants he was wearing. “I took a bath and was waiting for you.”

Derek nodded. “Did you give Silvi a bath too?” He looked at Silvi whose hair was brighter than usual.

“I talked her into it.” Thomas replied sheepishly.

‘Better clean. More cute. More food.’ Her thoughts rang out inside his head.

Can’t argue with that logic. Derek chuckled. “Was there anything else? Did Bronson finish reporting everything?”

“I don’t know.” Thomas replied. “He did say that Master Gracefall would like to have dinner with you tonight.”

“Sounds good to me. I didn’t eat as much as you all, so I could go for some more food.” Derek said.

Silvi jumped from Thomas’s hands onto the table. Nodding her head like a human. ‘More food.’

It was late, but there were still a good few hours left until dinner, so Derek wandered around the manor, looking around. He was right. Behind the door on the bottom floor was a magnificent dining area, with another door on the right side, leading to the kitchen.

Both sides of the upper floor had doors that led to hallways. There were five bedrooms in total. He also found the bathroom. Unfortunately, there was not real plumbing. He guessed that a mage would cleanse the room often to keep it clean. That was not a job he would want.

After exploring a bit, he was bored again. He had plans, but it was already to late in the day to get anything else done. Instead of sitting there thinking, Derek slipped into meditation and waited for time to meet this ‘Master Gracefall.’

Derek was awoken from his meditation by the arrival of Bronson. He opened his eyes and motioned for the man to take a seat across from him.

Bronson nodded and sat down. After sitting, Bronson waved his hand, and a set of formal clothing appeared on the empty table in front of him. Before Bronson spoke, he was interrupted by Derek.

“No.” Derek said.

“But…” Bronson muttered.

Derek shook his head. “I’m already wearing my least holey pair of jeans. Look how nice this shirt is.” He motioned to his clothing. “I’m not dressing in something I would never wear just to have dinner with someone. If it was a button down with some chinos, then maybe, but not that.”

“Button down? Chinos? I don’t understand.” Bronson said.

“Nor should you. This is good enough. If you don’t like it, I don’t have to go. I could always just go and have dinner at the Crown.” After saying that, Silvi jumped into his lap and nodded fiercely.

Bronson sighed. “That is fine. I didn’t have much hope, anyway. Dinner is almost ready, and the master is already waiting. Please, follow me.”

With that, Bronson stood and led the group over to the main residence. The inside of the building was practically the same as the other, besides it being a much bigger version.

Bronson motioned to a door. “Thomas and Silvi will dine in that room with me and a few others. The main dining room will just be you and the master. He would like to speak with you privately.”

“Okay.” Derek separated from the kid and bunny and followed Bronson into another room.

Inside the room was a middle-aged man with some grey streaks in his hair. He was sitting at the end of the dining table. When they entered the room, the man stood.

“Sir, this is Derek Hunt.” Bronson said, and the man nodded. “Is there anything else, sir?”

“That is all. You are dismissed.” The man said, and Bronson left. “Please, have a seat.” The man motioned at the seat across from himself. Derek nodded and sat down. The man did the same.

After some silence, the man spoke. “So, you are the one who killed my son?”