System Change

Soon, Derek finished the boss area of the dungeon and stored the mana cores before leaving. Once outside, he checked his surroundings, making sure there was still no one around. After doing so, he reached out to open his Time Prison once again.

Derek pulled the void apart, revealing the door to the Time Prison. He reached out and grabbed it, and pulled. The second the door was ajar, the clawed hand of the Void Beast reached out. That answers that question. Derek thought.

He grabbed the hand and pulled as he swung the door open wide. The Void Beast stumbled out, but didn’t get a chance to make a move before Derek clocked it in the temple with a void covered fist amplified by Multi-Strike. I need to find some other beasts to store so the Time Prison levels faster. It’s not going fast enough with just the three cells occupied.

After stuffing the corpse of the Void Beast in his increasingly full Void Storage, Derek decided to run the dungeon a few more times while waiting for Clay’s prison cell to open.

Once again, a notification from the Time Prison appeared in front of Derek midway through the dungeon. After finishing off the last Wind Golem, Derek went inside the prison and waited for the timer to run out.

Soon, cell #003 unlocked and opened a crack while Derek waited. Slowly, a hand appeared between the door and the frame. Then, the cell door gradually inched open, and Clay Torith appeared in the same bedraggled state he was in before he was sentenced.

The teen’s once pristine golden hair was tangled and dirtied. His eyes were red, as if he’d been crying. He took a step forward and staggered out of the cell.

Derek watched the teen emotionlessly. There was no telling how many young men and women had ended up dead in an unmarked grave or in some beast’s stomach because of the young man. Any fate the boy got, he deserved. It was clear to Derek that what he had planned to do with Thomas was something he’d done before.

He was sure that Jacks would confirm his suspicions, but Derek didn’t need to drag the man into it.

“Have you enjoyed your stay?” Derek asked.

Clay’s head shot up as he looked for Derek’s voice. Eventually, his eyes landed on him. Clay sniffled and fell to his knees. “P-please… d-don’t put be back in there. I’ll do anything. Just don’t put be back in the darkness.”

Derek snorted. “Was it really that bad? You were in there for what? A few weeks?” How long was Derek trapped in the darkness of the void? Was he in the same state as Clay after a couple weeks? No… he was nowhere close to that state. I guess that’s the pampered noble for you. Take away their silver spoon and they can’t survive a week.

“It’s awful! There’s nothing… I can’t feel anything. It’s torture.” The teen cried.

“Torture? How many people have you tortured? Do you think it’s worse than the pain and suffering you’ve caused?” Derek snorted. The Time Prison regulates the prisoner’s metabolic system, so he hasn’t even had to deal with the starvation I experienced. The experience of my body eating itself while it healed. Derek nearly shivered at the thought of what he went through.

“Th-” Clay started. “That’s different. I didn’t torture them.”

“Oh? But you killed them?”

Clay sniffled. “Y-yes.”

Well… looks like there really isn’t any reason to feel sorry for this bastard. “So, what do you think I should do with you?” Derek asked. I could use him to see if all of Malcolm’s holdings from the bank transferred to his kid upon his death… no… the auction’s going to be soon, and I’ve got more than enough Void Beasts to be rich many times over.

With watering eyes, Clay looked into Derek’s. “Y-you could kill me.”

Derek was taken about. “Kill you? Why would you want that? Wouldn’t it be better to lock you back up? You may have a chance at living that way.”

“N-no, no, no… don’t put me back in there.” Clay mumbled. “I… I know there’s no way you let me go free… not after what I’ve done.”

“But you still have hope. You’re grandfather is still out there.” Derek said.

Clay actually managed a snort, even in his current situation. “He doesn’t care about me. If he did, he wouldn’t have sent us away. He would have helped me level and grow stronger.”

I always did wonder about why this kid was so weak. I guess most people in sub cities that aren’t close to any real city all have the same problem. Walter had to send his son out for him to have a chance. I never asked or pried into how strong Walter was, but I doubt he’s stronger than Jacks. Derek shook his head.

“I heard that Gerald created a bit of an uproar when he found out about you and Malcolm dying.” Derek smiled.

“No… he’s probably just putting on an act of what he should be feeling. To gain sympathy and favor. That’s who he is. We’ve only met three times that I can even recall. I’m trash in his eyes.” Clay explained.

“Well, none of it matters now, I guess… follow me.” Derek pushed himself off the wall and walked out of the Time Prison. Clay followed behind with his head down, like a beaten puppy.

When the teen stepped through the threshold of the door, a whole slurry of questions popped up in Derek’s mind. He had walked through the door into the dungeon with no problem. Now Derek had even more questions than answers.

Is it because he’s part of the system and the Void Beast wasn’t? Would he be able to come out if his level was higher than the level of the dungeon? Does he count as part of the ‘Max Participants?’ Derek hoped the teen would be trapped inside the prison and not let through. Unfortunately, the Great System threw him yet another curveball.

“Come on. I’ll figure out what to do with you later.” Derek walked forward and place his hand on the orb to the next area. Ah… so he does count as a participant in the dungeon. That probably means that he wouldn’t have been able to get out if he was a higher level or the party was full.

“Kill me.” The teen said.

Derek looked at Clay and frowned. “I’m not killing you. Now hurry up and get over here.”

“You’ll just put me back there when you’re finished.”

I can’t put you back there for a week. Derek thought, but didn’t say out loud. “Just get over here. I can’t advance the dungeon until you do. I haven’t made my mind up on anything yet.” Derek rolled his eyes and wished he would have been able to let Bones or Ogre out instead.

“D-dungeon? We’re in a dungeon?” It seemed Clay finally looked around and realized where they were at.

“Yes! Now hurry or I’ll toss you in the prison!” Derek was losing his patience.

It seemed the threat of going back to the prison was more than enough to cause the teen to act. At his fastest speed, Clay was next to Derek with his hand on the orb. They vanished and appeared in the next area with the Earth Golems.

“You stay here in the safe zone while I clear the area. It’s not safe for someone like you.” Derek said and walked out without checking on the teen.

He walked up and kicked the Earth Golem, which caused it to form and let out a roar. Derek waited for all the golems to form, then hit the first one with a void covered Multi-Strike. Afterwards, he moved to the next and gave it a void covered one-two combo. Both mana cores turned dim and deactivated.

Derek wasn’t rushing, instead, mechanically taking out each golem. He didn’t even remember how many he’d destroyed. On the fourth golem, however, he noticed a figure with bedraggled golden hair in a sorry state standing before the golem that was furthest away from Derek.

The golem was already in the motion of attacking when Derek noticed. It’s fist was within a fraction of an inch of the teen’s skull. Instantly, Derek slipped into Void Shift and moved in their direction. Unfortunately, he was too late. In the fraction of a second it took Derek to activate the skill, the golem’s fist moved that fraction of an inch.

By the time Derek pulled himself through a ripple and appeared before the golem, he got a clear view of the golem’s fist connected with the teen’s skull. And, since Derek couldn’t attack while shifted, and there wasn’t enough room to put himself in front of the hit, there wasn’t anything he could do to save Clay.

Derek sighed. I guess it’s better this way. I couldn’t just let him go free and didn’t want to kill him. If he felt the prison was such a torture after only a few weeks… he made his decision. Still, Derek pushed his feet onto the ground and gripped the arm of the Earth Golem. There was a small chance of saving the teen, and he would still try.

Derek canceled Void Shift and pulled hard. Still, the fist of the golem moved forward. It was fatal. Derek sighed once again. Then, he mechanically finished off the remaining golems before looking at the body.

There was no reason to keep the body, so Derek gathered the cores and moved on to the next area. A quick death in a dungeon was probably more than the young man deserved. There was nothing Derek could do about it. He made a mental note to himself to adjust the time and check on Bones and Ogre as soon as he could.

Surely, Clay was just an outlier, having such little willpower. Derek was locked away for years before he tried to do anything extreme. And he had the torturous experience of being eaten alive from the inside to deal with.

Perhaps he’d see if one of his friends would like to run an experiment by being locked in a cell for a few hours. But before doing so, he decided it was best to avoid locking away humans and other intelligent beings. Sure, being locked away was torture, but if it was so torturous that one lost all hope within a couple of weeks, he wasn’t sure he wanted to use it unless the crimes were truly atrocious.

I guess Gerald would fit that bill. Derek thought as he finished off the last boss in the area.