System Change

Finally, after preparing for it as best he could, Derek pulled up his status and focused on his class upgrade. Like always, he began to skim through the options available, on the off chance there was something that interested him more than his current class. However, this time, the class upgrade and changes were different.

There were the normal common, uncommon, rare, and epic classes that he was used to, but there were also a few legendary classes related to time and space available. There was the Time Lord and Ruler of Space legendary classes to choose from. The kicker was that both of these classes allowed for Derek to choose from a list of skills to replace the ones he would lose with the class upgrade, and three new skills on top of everything.

He could only stare dumbfounded at the class options. First, he looked at the Time Lord class.

Time Lord

You have reached an affinity with time that few ever reach. Time is nothing to you, and it is everything. Time is yours to control as you see fit.

Time Lord is a legendary class. Preferences for this class are wisdom and strength. Three skills will be available upon class selection.

Special: All lost skills will be replaced by time skills of your choosing upon class selection. Skill levels will be one, but you will be awarded 80 Skill Upgrade Points to use at your discretion.

You will receive 31 free stat points for allocation for your choosing.

Then, he checked out Ruler of Space.

Ruler of Space

You have reached an affinity with space that few ever reach. Go where you want, do what you want. No distance is too long. Nothing can contain you. Space is in the palm of your hand.

Ruler of Space is a legendary class. Preferences for this class are wisdom and dexterity. Three skills will be available upon class selection.

Special: All lost skills will be replaced by space skills of your choosing upon class selection. Skill levels will be one, but you will be awarded 80 Skill Upgrade Points to use at your discretion.

You will receive 31 free stat points for allocation for your choosing.

Not only would he get a full set of new skills. Skills that he could personally choose, he would receive enough upgrade points to fully level up three of them or spread around as he saw fit. Plus, after doing some quick math, he realized that the single increase in stat points he would receive per level would put him just over the 1,500 point cap with all his stats without him needing to use any outside methods like void beasts.

Honestly, it was like the system was doing everything it could to get him away from his void class and element. Really, both the time and space classes were almost too tempting for him to pass up. Especially the time class. He was sure the class change would let him keep some form of his Time Prison. Plus, there was something to be said about controlling time.

The benefits of stopping time and training were hard to beat. What if he could stop time for a person’s body and allow them to live forever? Would he be able to see into the future with a time related skill? Yes, the class change was very tempting. But, there was something else very strange with his class upgrade and selection, and that was his void class upgrade… it was strange.

???? Void ????

Class description unknown and unavailable. Out of system purview. No details available.

Yes, the system had given him the two other options because it didn’t want him to continue with the void. The question was: Was the system trying to help him by allowing him to choose another powerful class or was the system trying to harm him by having him change from his void class? It almost seemed… too good to pass up.

If the system, who Derek knew to be overly greedy and stingy, was offering something like this, something was wrong. Or was it offering something like this because it couldn’t provide anything more from the void element?

Thinking back, his last two skills he received from a class upgrade were Void Steps and Time Prison. Sure, Void Steps were most definitely closely related to the void. It was in the name. But Time Prison was obviously more related to time than space. Maybe the system had given him such a skill because it was out of void related skills.

So, with that in mind, what would happen if he selected to upgrade his void class? He would be doing so blindly. Did he really want to take that chance when there were two obviously great routes out? Derek raised his hand up and pulled at his hair. He didn’t know what to do. He’d always thought that the system didn’t like him, but what if that wasn’t it?

Still, couldn’t it have rewarded me with a time or space-based dragon skill scroll at the end of that trial? That would have earned it a lot of goodwill from me. But it had to give me a dragon fire scroll. Honestly, I don’t even know who would benefit from that skill. Maybe Jacks or his kid, but they are already too high a level for it to do them any good for classes.

Maybe Brandi? She’ll need an offensive skill to protect herself, and she’ll probably have some type of fire resistance from being a crafter, right? I would definitely be able to trade it, though. There were some interesting-looking skills that the king was offering for the Void Beast things. If I choose the void option and it doesn’t pan out, I could trade that skill and some of the vitality elixirs for a slew of offensive skills to compensate for my lack of skills. I guess that’s always an option.

Ugh… what do I do? This is harder than my initial choice back on earth and my first choice on this planet. After what seemed like hours of hesitating and contemplating, but really was only minutes, Derek decided to go with his gut. He liked just about everything to do with his void class… well, other than the whole being trapped in the void to begin with.

But he didn’t have to worry about that anymore. With his void class, he could always get out of the void at any time. He was still a bit void phobic, but the more he used the void and got used to it, the more that lessened. In fact, he barely even thought about that anymore when using his skills.

With a deep breath and the hope that he wouldn’t regret it, he selected the unknown void class.

Would you like to upgrade your Legend of the Void class to ???? Void ???? class?

This decision cannot be undone.

Y-yes. He winced.

Upgrading class…

Error…

Void affinity out of system purview…

Error…

Requesting Assistance…

Requesting Assistance…

…

What? What does that mean? It’s requesting assistance? Requesting assistance from who? From what? What’s going on? Out of all the possibilities Derek could think of, this was not one of them. He could do nothing but stare at the system notification as it kept repeating ‘Requesting Assistance…’ over and over. It seemed like this went on forever before something finally changed.

Assistance Granted…

Please Stand By…

Uh… What? Derek waited… and waited. Did… did the system just put me on hold? But finally, after an unknown amount of time, the assistance arrived.

Scanning User…

Scanning User…

Scan Complete…

…

Congratulations!

Your affinity for your element (Void) has moved beyond the scope of your current system. As your affinity for your element (Void) has surpassed 50%, 5% higher than your current system’s affinity, your current system is no longer able to support your class. Resulting in your current system requesting assistance.

…

Congratulations!

After scanning user, it has been detected that you have a high affinity for three elements: Void (Legendary), Time (Epic), and Space (Epic).

Please choose affinity path.

Void [Time/Space Combination]

Time (Recommended)

Space (Recommended)

Selecting Time or Space will adjust your affinities correspondingly.

…

W-what?! This… this looks like the other system… but… it’s different. It’s less mechanical. What’s going on? Is there another system? How did one system get assistance from another? What the fuck is an affinity path?

What does it mean it will adjust my affinities correspondingly? Will I lose the other affinities, but increase my affinity with the one I select? What is my affinity with Time and Space? Derek took a deep breath. Well… I’ve already gone this far with Void. At least it doesn’t say that it’s not recommended.

I choose Void.

…

Void Path selected. No affinity adjustments necessary.

Implementing Void Path…

…

Congratulations!

Class has successfully been upgraded to: Void Monarch

As Void Monarch class is out of current system purview, you have been awarded with the class rarity: Mythical

…

Commencing Evolution…

…

Evolution?! What? But at that moment, the space behind Derek tore open and the purple of the void that he was all too familiar with began to condense around him. It was the same thing that happened with Silvi and the dragons. But this time, it was happening to Derek.

He could only sit back and watch as the void swarmed around him into a sphere, blocking any retreat. Soon, the void was so thick that he could no longer see through it. Once again, for the first time since he arrived on this planet, Derek was in utter darkness.

Derek breathed a shaky breath and focused inwardly, just as he had when breaking through thresholds. If there wasn’t anything he could do, he would watch… he would feel.

What he felt was himself disappearing. There was no pain, just nothingness. Then, the void flooded into his body, or where it used to be, and his body began to conform to it. First, it rebuilt his heart, then his brain, then his other organs. Finally, it finished rebuilding his skin. He had no clue how long it had taken. He could have been in the void for minutes, or years. He had no way of knowing. Other than the intense focus on his self, he was shut off, almost back in the deep meditation he had used all that time ago in the void.

Finally, he received another message from the strange system.

…

Bonded link found…

Sever link? (Note: Severing link will not harm bonded companion. Bonded companion will no longer grow with you. Without a bonded companion, growth will be easier. Recommended to sever link.)

…

It wants me to sever my link with Silvi? Fuck that! No!

…

Bonded link maintained…

Commencing Evolution…

…

Back in Savannah, Silvi was warping around with her Active Void Shift to work on multiple dishes at once. She had five Mage Hands kneading dough and multiple knives hovering in the air above different vegetables, preparing for chopping. She was having the time of her life. This is what she lived for.

Just as she closed the oven door after placing the cookies inside, she received a message. A strange but all too familiar message. But this time, there was no blue screen.

…

Commencing Evolution…

…

No! Dammit, Derek! Not now. Don’t make me do this now. What about the cookies? Silvi panicked as a tear in the space behind her formed. What do I do?

With her genius and quick thinking. An idea formed in her head. It was the best she could come up with on such short notice. Putting everything she could into her Telepathy skill, she shouted out.

‘Malorie! Malorie, help!’

‘Silvi? What’s wrong? What is it?’ The beautiful delicious… Malorie quickly answered back. She knew something was terribly wrong. Silvi didn’t use the Telepathy skill often. Silvi didn’t ask for help. Silvi asked for ingredients. But Silvi wasn’t asking for ingredients this time.

‘Malorie!’ Silvi screamed through her Telepathy skill. ‘Don’t let the cookies burn!’ With that, everything went black. She was evolving.