System Change

Derek watched for a while as Edward, Osian, and Tevara made their rounds between all the nobles. Everyone was trying to be as cordial as possible to what was essentially the new leaders of the kingdom, so it didn’t seem like he needed to worry about an attack coming out of nowhere against Edward. As for Osian, he could take care of himself.

He’d only gotten a few glances at Osian fighting, but from what he saw, the man was holding back quite a bit in order to mirror his brother’s output—his brother, who was considered to be quite strong. From what he’d heard, Ryven had managed to only be slightly disadvantaged against Alanah in their initial fight… well, until she transformed and mopped the floor with him. And even though she’d said that he was a good counter to some of her abilities, it was still quite an accomplishment.

Even if some of the nobles did choose to attack, with Osian staying withing steps from Edward, Derek doubted the future king would have any problems. Besides, Edgar was watching over his brother like a hawk—seemingly worried about the same things. With his speed and the short distance, Derek had no doubt that the young prince would be able to get between any attacks on his brother.

On top of all that, Alanah, Avery, and Marrick were still around. That was a trio that even he wouldn’t want to mess with. Unless it was in a spar, then that could be pretty fun, Derek thought as he slowly and quietly backed away further inside the palace. When he’d told Edgar that he wouldn’t mind raiding whatever Astrus had in their storage, he wasn’t completely jesting.

Of course, Derek wasn’t a monster. He wouldn’t take everything, but he would definitely choose some good things that Astrus no longer needed—or that he decided that Astrus no longer needed. So, he wasn’t going to rob them blind… just a little blurry.

After a few more slow steps away from everyone, Derek turned on his heel and began looking around. Ugh… this place is going to be a maze. With a shrug, he chose a hall to the right and began walking. He only made it twenty or so feet down the hall before he heard the pattering of footsteps running behind him. Damn… caught in the act. Who saw me?

Other that him, everyone else was focused on what was going on outside. He’d thought he had made a clean break—even Alanah and Avery were off to the side discussing things as they kept an eye out. Derek closed his eyes and sighed—he really didn’t want to share with anyone here other than Silvi, who was still perched lazily on his shoulder.

Slowly turning to see who was behind him, Derek was surprised when he saw the still moderately angry prince moving toward him. Oh? Tyler Sinclair… this could be good. He definitely knows where the treasury is.

“Where are you going?” the man asked with some hostility in his voice as he approached.

“Tyler Sinclair,” Derek said. “Just the person I was looking for. I need your help.”

“What?” the younger man stopped in his tracks, stunned. “Why would I help you?”

“Isn’t it obvious?” Derek said. “You’re soon to be an adviser of the Kingdom of Indaria—as soon as the change is announced—so I need you to advise me.”

This conversation obviously wasn’t what the former prince was expecting when he began chase. “You… you’re part of the group that killed my grandfather, father, mother, uncle, and brother. And you’re not going to be the king. There’s no reason why I should help.”

“I actually only killed your uncle,” Derek clarified. “He seemed like a bit of an asshole, too. He tried to kill one of my friends while she wasn’t looking—or at least take her hostage. I’m not sure. I didn’t let it get that far. So, do me a favor and help me out, will you? Besides, if you watched any of the meeting, then you already know that even Osian and Edward are deferent to me. It’s basically the same thing as advising the new rulers.”

“That…” Tyler lowered his head, took a deep breath in, and clenched his fists until they were shaking. Under his breath, he muttered, “I promised Tevara… I promised Tevara…” Finally, he loosened his hands and raised his head back up. “What is it you need?” he asked.

“Good, good…” Derek said, and patted the young man on his shoulder. “Take me to the treasury room. You know, where your father kept all the good stuff. I need to take… inventory.”

The young man’s eyes narrowed his eyes in suspicion. “You’re going to steal from it, aren’t you?”

“Maybe… steal is a nasty word…” Derek shrugged. “You see, I’m not really part of Cydaria or Indria—I just happen to live in Cydaria for now. Think of me like a mercenary who could wipe the floor with the kings of Astrus, Cydaria, and Indria all at once. I’m sure they won’t mind if I take a few things as my payment for helping out. In fact, I already told Edgar—the future king’s much stronger younger brother—that I was going to do this. You’ll just be speeding along the process by taking me there.”

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“Yeah… okay. All three kings at once, huh? I’m sure you’re strong, but you don’t have to lie…”

“Oh, I’m not lying,” Derek said. “I’d release my aura right now to show you, but that would draw too much attention. Not to mention I’d have to wait around for half an hour for you to wake up. That would just take too much time.”

Tyler’s eyebrows raised in surprise before he frowned again. “You’re… serious, aren’t you? You actually believe what you said. Are you crazy or are you actually that strong?”

“I’ve been called both,” Derek said. “You don’t get strength like I have without experiencing some things that will drive you a little crazy.” He instantly thought about his time in the void—all those decades or maybe even centuries… he didn’t know—and shuddered at the thought.

“I want to see you fight,” the young man said with fire in his eyes. “Promise me that you’ll let me see you fight—or at least spar with someone strong.”

“Sure.” Derek shrugged. “If Alanah or Osian want to spar and can get some free time, you can watch. But if they don’t want to, or are too busy, then that’s just bad luck.”

“If they don’t, then at least hit me with your aura. I want to feel what the aura of someone who claims to be so strong feels like,” Tyler said. “And don’t go easy. Use your full aura and direct it only at me.”

“You could just ask about a third of those soldiers who tried to fight on the outside,” Derek said. “I’m sure they’ve woken up by now. Or, you could ask the rest of them. Me and my companion…” Derek pointed his thumb at Silvi. “Held back the army while everyone else fought their little one-on-one battles.”

Tyler looked Derek up and down, and Derek could have sworn he saw sparkles in the young man’s eyes. Oh… he thought. This guy is one of those princes, just like Edgar, but still a little younger. I bet he focuses hard on leveling his skills. He’s…. Probably not going to make a very good adviser, but he could be a good member of the kingdom’s army. I’ll have to tell Edward about him. His sister is much more suited for an adviser’s role.

“Fine,” Tyler finally said. “Follow me.”

With that, the young man walked past Derek down the hall. He was already going down. “Oh, I was going the right way,” Derek muttered.

“Not at all,” the former prince said. “I just don’t want to go back the way we came and risk more people seeing us. This isn’t actually official…”

“True,” Derek said. After that, he just followed.

The palace really was like a maze. About halfway to the treasury, Derek wished that palaces had the same ‘you are here’ maps on the walls of each room that the amusement parks back on Earth had. He didn’t actually have a bad sense of direction—how could he with a skill that literally allowed him to go wherever he wanted with just his senses—but he still felt like he’d have to live in such a palace for years before he knew where everything was.

Ten minutes later, and Tyler led him to a closed door. Derek had a suspicion that the young man had actually toyed with him a bit by leading through places that they didn’t need to go, but he didn’t say anything because it looked like he did at least end up bringing him where he wanted.

The door in front of Derek was quite small—it wasn’t the giant double doors that led to the Throne Room, or the medium-sized double doors that seemed to go to different bed chambers throughout the palace. No, this door was a single door—about the size of his Time Prison door when he didn’t actively expand it.

What stood out about the door—and the surrounding wall—were the runes that were etched on and around it. They were all glowing different colors. Some were green, some were brown, but the majority were the blue color of pure mana.

Derek looked over at Tyler. “Well?” he asked.

“Oh,” Tyler said. “I can’t open it. It was set to my grandfather, father, and brother’s mana. They were the only ones who could naturally get through all the runes. Of course, there is also a key.”

“A key?” Derek asked. “Where is that?”

“My father carried it in his storage ring. So, if you know where that is, you can open it.”

Derek closed his eyes and breathed deeply. Of course, he knew exactly where Tevarian’s storage ring and all the contents inside were. They had been turned into ashes and mixed with a puddle of Tevarian after Silvi was finished with them.

“What are the runes?” Derek asked. He could identify maybe a handful of runes is all, and those mostly had to do with hot water, cold water, and draining. “Are there any runes on there that will cause the destruction of everything inside?”

Tyler looked hard at the runes and shook his head. “The green ones are poison runes. They will activate together with the brown ones if an intruder breaks through. The brown ones will seal the entrance again, and the green ones will fill the room with poison. The same ones are inside that you see out here just in case someone slips by them. The blue ones are all different types of locks. Of course, there are some runes that alert that there has been a breach. But those alert my father, grandfather, and General Whitaker.”

“Hmm…” Derek rubbed his chin. I definitely don’t need to worry about any of those three getting an alert. One’s a puddle, ones just dead, and the other had his head separated from his body by Alanah. “I think I can handle that.” He nodded his head. ‘Silvi, melt the runes and door. Start small and only use what you need to. Try your best not to cause a commotion.’

‘Kay!’ With a single word of acceptance, a very small lid made from void appeared in front of Derek and Tyler and Silvi hopped on it.

‘That’s new,’ Derek sent. It seemed Silvi had finally come up with good ways to stay in the air. ‘Your cooking Void Creation combined with telekinesis?’ he asked.

‘Yup,’ she replied happily. ‘Could use Chop on people with a created cleaver. Why not fly on lid?’

‘Very smart,’ Derek praised.

‘I know,’ Silvi replied.

Finally, from her perch atop the floating lid, Silvi took in a deep breath.

“Move back,” Derek told Tyler. “We’re about to break in and you don’t want to get caught in the attack.”

Not needing another warning, the former prince moved quickly back dozens of feet. After that, Silvi released her flame.