System Change

Francesco led Derek to a room within the Adventurer’s Guild. It was nearly the same as the room where he had met the man in the first place. The difference was that there were thick binders all around.

“All the missions that are up front are here too.” Francesco said. He walked over to one of the binders. He dropped it on the table in front of them. “This binder has all the silver missions that are up front. It also has some that have not been added yet. They are still being vetted.” He opened the binder to the front page and slid it over towards Derek.

Derek took the binder and began flipping through the missions. There was nothing in it that caught his eye, or even seemed the least bit challenging. Finally, his eyes landed on one of the missions towards the back. “Uh… I’m pretty sure I already completed this one.” He pointed at the description.

“Hmm?” Francesco took the binder and read the mission. “This mission was submitted a few weeks ago. A bandit camp was spotted a couple days away from the city, and some citizens were able to make it back to the city and report it. You’re saying that you completed it? How?” He eyed Derek.

“I’ve only been in Torith for a couple days now. My route to the city took me on a path that was being patrolled by bandits. My group took care of the ambush quite easily. Afterward, we made a detour to the camp itself. It was relatively big for a bandit camp, but didn’t take much effort to eliminate. We brought the captives along with us.” Derek said.

“Is there anyone who can confirm this?” The man asked.

“Uh… Bronson was a part of my group. And, there are the captives that scattered as soon as they arrived in the city. The guards that were on duty when we arrived took a report from Bronson, so they can confirm too.”

“Captain Bronson? From the Gracefall house?” Francesco asked.

“That’s the one. Good guy. He puts that meathead you got conducting your exams to shame.” Derek replied.

“I will send someone to verify everything. If it all comes back as you have said, you will only need to complete one mission. Is there one you would like to complete?”

Derek took the binder back and kept flipping through it. Eventually his eyes landed on a hunting mission. He pointed at it. “Where is this?”

Francesco eyed the mission. “It’s about a week’s travel past the city. Before you reach the mountain. There are a bunch of the little creatures wandering around the area. They are easy enough to fight. Nobody has taken the mission because of its closeness to the mountain, and distance away from the city.”

“What does the mountain have to do with anything?”

“It’s a danger area, not unlike the forest opposite it. Except the forest doesn’t really get dangerous until you venture deep into it. The mountain range has higher level monsters wandering around it. Of course, those monsters are nothing for a Gold ranked adventurer.” The man explained.

“So, there’s unlikely to be anyone at or around the area? You know, to help an adventurer if he were to get in trouble.” Derek asked.

“Exactly.”

“Alright, I’ll go ahead and take this mission. I should have it completed in a couple days. Hell, I might make it back by the end of the day. I am quite fast.” Derek smiled.

Francesco nodded. “Very well. I should have the other mission verified by the time you get back. Happy hunting.” The man stood and put out his hand.

Derek shook hands. Francesco led Derek back to the front of the guild. Derek nodded at Nia, then left the establishment.

Outside the Adventurer’s Guild, Derek tried to contact Silvi. To his surprise, it worked. ‘Can you hear me? Hello?’

‘What?’ Her annoyed voice entered his thoughts.

‘Where are you right now?’ He asked.

‘Merchant district. Pastry shop. Eating.’ She replied.

Of course. He thought to himself. ‘I’m heading out of the city for a bit. I may be back today, but I might be gone until tomorrow. Do you want to come?’

‘Food?’ She asked.

‘No. No food. Just hunting.’ He said.

‘I stay. Protect the mount. Eat food.’ Silvi answered.

‘Okay. I guess I’ll see you tomorrow. Take good care of Thomas.’ Derek stopped the transmission and headed towards the city exit.

Outside the city, Derek followed the path around. He could see the distant mountain range in front of him. He had chosen this mission for two reasons. The first was literally just to get an official badge, but the second was to do something that he had been thinking about for a while now.

Soon, he took off towards the mountain at a blistering pace. The distance to the target may take a normal Silver or Gold adventurer a week or more of travel, but with his speed, he planned on arriving before nightfall.

It was the first time since his enormous stat increase that he could run all out without having to wait for someone. His speed actually surprised himself. The only unfortunate thing about his speed was that his boots were basically being ground to a pulp. With a sigh, he removed his shoes and kept running.

It was well before nightfall when Derek arrived at his hunting grounds. The beasts he was looking for were toadstools with purple and white caps. Their height reached just below his knees.

With Derek’s senses, it was not long before he found a group of them. HIs mission was to bring 15 corpses back to the Adventurer’s Guild, apparently they were great ingredients for Alchemists to use.

Before hunting them, Derek decided that it was time to learn a skill that he had been putting off because of the off chance he could find a Weaponsmith to upgrade or make him a new weapon. Alas, there was nobody with the talent to do so at Torith. Derek focused on the General Skill.

Would you like to learn Unarmed Combat Mastery?

Yes.

Unarmed Combat Mastery Learned Successfully.

Skill Points Remaining: 15

After learning the skill, Derek checked out his status.

Status

Name

Derek Hunt

Age

30

Level

76

Experience

365,118/590,000

Class

Legend of the Void (Legendary)

Race

Human (Modified)

Health

7250

Mana

5000

Stamina

7150

Defense

71 (Armor + 0)

Attack

125(Weapon + 0)

Stats

Strength

700

Dexterity

500

Endurance

715

Vitality

725

Intelligence

500

Wisdom

500

Stat Points Remaining

43

Contracts

Silvi (Bonded Beast)

View Status

Stella Brighton (Crown)

View Contract

Francesco Jaccobs (Adventurer’s Guild)

View Contract

Skills

Absolute Nullify

Level 1

Nullify magic spells

Chain Lightning

Level 9

Send a chain of lightning to enemies.

Channel Void

Level 8

Channel the Void through your body, into attacks or defenses.

Cure Toxin

Level 4

Removes poisons and toxins.

Dismantle

Level 12

Increase ability to dismantle deceased organic life forms.

Greater Meditation

Level 3

Enter meditative state to increase recovery.

Heavy Weapons Mastery

Level 18

Increase damage with heavy weapons.

Identify

Level 15

Appraise objects or entities.

Magic Resistance

Level 10

Increase natural magic resistance by 1.5% per level.

Multi-Strike

Level 1

Your next attack hits twice.

Physical Resistance

Level 1

Increase natural physical resistance by 1.5% per level.

Rejuvenation

Level 9

Restores 45% HP over 30 seconds.

Sweeping Slash

Level 18

Project a slash in front of you.

Void Call

Level 2

Call out to the Void.

Void Sense

Level 2

Sense the void.

Void Shift

Level 3

Become one with and move within the void.

Void Storage

Level N/A

Use a storage space made from void.

Unarmed Combat Mastery

Level 1

Increase efficiency when not using a weapon or magic.

Skill Points Remaining

15

Skill Upgrade Points Remaining

4

Awards

Greater Giant Slayer, Jack of All, Lesser Dungeon Explorer, Lesser Dungeon Traveler, Lesser Slayer of the Unknown, Magical Glass Cannon, Meat Shield, Lesser Explorer, Offensive Powerhouse

Surprised, Derek had to look at his status again. When did I turn 30? Apparently, sometime within the last couple weeks, Derek had a birthday. Well, like they say. It’s all downhill from here.

After settling on his new skill, Derek ran over to the first group of Poison Fengs. The fight was not climatic as the mushrooms were weak enough for Bronze adventurers to kill. The problem with them was that they always traveled in a group. Which was no problem for Derek at all.

Derek finished hunting the monsters in less than an hour. It would have been much quicker, but he had to spend some time finding them. Once finished, it was time for Derek’s other task. He took off, closing in on the mountain range.

Finally close to the mountains, Derek checked his surroundings. Other than some birds and other beasts, he did not sense anything. Just to make sure he was alone, he ran far off the path to the mountains, until he was at a desolate area.

Finally, he sat with his back against a boulder and channeled the void through himself. With the void threatening to explode inside of him, he triggered the skill. Void Call. The purple energy gathered in his upper body, then exploded out. Shooting a beam of light in the sky.

The light shined like a beacon, which is why he found a place so far out of the way, and why he was happy that he made it there before sundown. After a few moments, the beacon dissipated and Derek was out of mana.

The instant loss of mana caused his head to throb. He quickly slipped into meditation to increase his recovery. Soon, all his reserves were filled up. The only thing left for him to do was wait.