System Change

Derek put his hand on Thomas’s head and gave him a reassuring smile. “You really did fight well today. I was here for all of it. You showed a great understanding of the spear, and a good amount of wariness towards others… at least until you got comfortable. But I can’t blame you for that, as I was even beginning to think they weren’t going to make a move.” He glanced over at Clay and the guards.

Thomas ducked his head and whispered in a low tone only Derek could hear. “I should have listened to you about her.”

Derek laughed and patted the poor kid on the back. “You should have.” He agreed. “But you’re a young man and she’s a pretty girl who bat her eyelashes at you. You know, hormones and such… I was probably expecting too much from you, anyway.”

“Ahem!” Clay cleared his throat to try to get everyone’s attention.

Derek didn’t even bother to look at the noble. He continued talking with Thomas. “That’s the first time I’ve seen you use your skill so well. Have you been practicing with them?”

Thomas nodded. “Yeah…” He said. “I may need to borrow some more gold soon. I’ve been renting out one of the training rooms at the Adventurer’s Guild.”

“That’s fine. Money is meant to be spent. It does nothing sitting in your ring gathering dust. It’s not like we can earn interest in this place.” Derek answered. Actually, is there a bank somewhere? I can’t believe I’ve never asked anyone that. He looked at his storage bracelet. I guess basic economics gets thrown out the window when you can store all your wealth on your person…

“Hey!” An annoyed shout came from the noble. “Who the fuck do you think you are?” He yelled again.

Again, Derek ignored the teen. “And, saving your Haste skill until you needed it at the end… well done. I don’t know if you didn’t use it before because you didn’t need it, or if you were actually saving it… either way, well done.”

Thomas smiled. “You always need a trump card.”

Derek laughed out loud. “I don’t remember teaching you that, but it’s not a bad idea.”

“Mr. Jaccobs told me that when I rented one of the training rooms. He seemed to know that I was with you, so he treated me well.” Thomas answered.

Derek frowned. “Mr. Jaccobs?”

“The manager of the Adventurer’s Guild.”

“Oh! Francesco.” Derek nodded. “He seemed decent enough.” Derek said. At least after I took the Gold test. He said to himself. I wonder what my trump card would be. Is it calling an uncontrollable murder beast from the void? Is it having a murder bunny? Maybe it’s just Multi-Strike.

Derek secretly glanced over at the noble and his guards. Damn, his face is almost as red as Stella’s hair. He inwardly laughed, but kept ignoring them on the surface.

“We’ll talk more about how you fought later. Did you get a lot of experience today?” He asked Thomas. He already knew the answer because of Identify, but he asked anyway.

Thomas nodded. “The experience was shared, but I still gained three levels.”

Derek nodded. “Make sure to spend the points wisely. I’m sure you’ve realized where you’re lacking.”

Thomas nodded and started to speak, but was cut off.

“OH! MY! GOD!” The noble yelled. “Guards!”

He lasted longer than I thought he would. Derek praised. Most noble brats would have probably exploded after I ignored them the first time.

“I’m tired of this.” Clay said, reigning in his anger. “Kill them.” He commanded.

“Stop!” The guard called Bradley said to the others. “Don’t move.”

“What are you doing, Bradley? You’re here to follow my orders, not give them.” Clay reprimanded.

The guard sighed. “I’m sorry, young master. That’s not entirely true. I was tasked by the master to keep you safe, and right now, that is what I am doing.”

Derek finally turned to the group. He eyed Bradley. “Bradley, was it?” He asked.

The guard nodded gravely. “Yes, Mr. Hunt.”

Derek flashed the man a vicious smile. “What makes you think that there is any way for you to keep him safe now that I’m here?”

The man gulped and visibly shook, though not in anger. “Sir… Mr. Hunt. Please forgive my young master. He did not know who he was offending.”

“Oh, so you’re saying that if it weren’t for me, it wouldn’t matter if he dragged another commoner out to the middle of nowhere and murdered him for a storage ring?” Derek asked.

“N-no sir… That’s… That’s…” Bradley tried to answer.

“Inexcusable!” Derek yelled, releasing some of his strength along with his voice. Void raced through his body and veins, causing his eyes to become solid purple and his messy hair to rise with energy.

Now, even those who did not know who Derek was were trembling. Alicia had it the worst. She had fallen to her knees with tears rolling down her face.

“Now!” Derek shouted. “Let me tell you all something.” Derek was sure that Bradley had just been being cautious before, as nobody in Torith, other than Walter and maybe Stella, really had an idea of how powerful he was. The City Lord may have heard about his test from the Adventurer’s Guild, and he was sure rumors of him having a Crown Membership had spread, which was why the guard was being cautious, but that was it.

“I have a pet, I’m sure you’ve heard about it.” Derek said.

Bradley slowly nodded.

“That pet could wipe out your entire little group in seconds…” Derek waited to let that sink in. “Now… What do you think I can do to you?” He channeled some lightning from Chained Lightning through his fingertips and held his hand up. “Do you want to find out?”

At that, Clay stumbled backwards, and the guard took two clumsy steps back. Alicia was already out of it, her eyes looking dead from fright. It wouldn’t be odd if she lost consciousness at any point now.

Derek looked out of the corner of his eye and could see Thomas staring at the girl. He could tell that the boy was uncomfortable with the girl suffering, even after everything she had done to him. However, Thomas didn’t say anything, and left them all to their fate.

Derek finally released the void and stopped casting his spell, allowing the noble and his guards to finally catch their breath.

Derek smiled, still talking with Bradley because the guard was the one actually in charge. “So, here’s the thing.” Derek said. The guard had calmed down and was now nothing but ears. “When I heard about your little... rendezvous in the forest, I was chatting with a friend.”

“Now, that friend asked me to not kill anybody important today, and after some hesitation, I agreed. So, I’m going to have to let this little noble go today, and you can thank Alanah for that, because if it wasn’t for her… Let’s just say that only Thomas and myself would make it back to the city.” Derek explained.

“T-thank you, Mr. Hunt.” Bradley stammered out and bowed.

“Like I said, don’t thank me, thank her.” Derek replied. He then put his hand on his chin as if in thought. “Hmm… I guess the noble runt is considered important and maybe you are…” He said to Bradley. “That’s al,l though. I don’t think she would mind if I only let the two of you leave. What do you think?”

Everyone lost what little color they had regained with that declaration. Derek chuckled. “I’m just kidding. I’m actually in a pretty good mood after watching this little guy fight today.” He pointed at Thomas. “You can all go.”

Derek waited, but everyone just stood in silence. Irritated, he clapped his hands. “Chop, chop!”

That did the job. The guards gathered up the noble teen and began to return back the way they came. Bradley directed them, glancing in fear at Derek occasionally.

Derek noticed that the group only focused on the noble and completely ignored Alicia. “Hey!” He shouted. The squad of soldiers stopped, not daring to move. “Don’t forget about the little harpy.” He pointed at the crestfallen Alicia.

Bradley whispered something to one of his nearby guards. That guard rushed over to Alicia and quickly scooped her up before retreating back to the rest of the squad.

The lead guard stepped forward and bowed again. “Mr. Hunt. If that is all, we will be taking our leave. Thank you for your generosity.”

“Wait.” Derek said. “When you get back, let Malcolm know that I’ll finally be paying him a visit. No need to send me any more invitations. He’s got my attention now.”

The guard’s eye twitched at Derek’s use of the City Lord’s first name, but he only bowed deeper. “I will be sure to let the City Lord know.”

Derek nodded. “Be sure to do so. You’re dismissed.” He swung his hand in dismissal.

“Move out!” Bradley commanded.

Derek and Thomas stood in the clearing, watching as the group got smaller and smaller as they distanced themselves from the duo.

Derek looked over at Thomas, who was frowning. “Do you not approve of the way I handled that?”

Thomas shook his head. “It’s not that. I was just wondering how many other people they have killed and stolen from, and how soon before they do it again.”

Derek nodded. “I know. Hopefully, I scared them straight…” He said, then sighed. “But most likely, they will only become even more cautious. Though, I doubt that girl will be up for it anytime soon.”

Thomas flinched at the mention of Alicia.

“Oh well, I plan on dropping by the City Lord’s place soon. Maybe the man will give me a reason to perform a demonstration.” Derek pat Thomas on the back. “I’m hungry. For some reason, I’m craving pork.”