System Change

Derek first made his way to the Crown Restaurant, but left when the manager there informed him that Stella was at the hotel. I should have guessed, he thought as he walked into the hotel. From there, all it took was the lady at the front desk pulling out a communication crystal. Then he was soon led up to one of the rooms that Stella used as her office.

After entering the room, Derek was left waiting for several minutes until Stella arrived. When she walked in, he noticed that she was dressed in a more adventurer-like style than normal. However, even though she was wearing what looked like a full set of leather armor, it looked almost formal. It like she has to go to a business meeting, but she may need to kill some wolves on the way, he thought as he chuckled.

“What’s so funny?” Stella asked as she walked past Derek and sat behind her desk.

“I was just admiring your… armor? It is armor, right? It’s quite… elegant,” he asked.

“Oh, this?” she motioned to the green fitted leather tunic on her upper body. “While adventuring with Rayna and the others, I got used to wearing my leathers, and I haven’t felt the need to go back to dresses or skirts.”

“And that is your armor?”

“This? No,” Stella said. “It is a business attire I had fashioned from the hide of a Woodland Serpent—a level 210 creature that can be found in a couple dungeons in the kingdom. It has the feel and some of the protection offered by such a material, but with a more refined business look,” she explained. “Why? Do you like it?”

“Sure,” Derek said. He had a feeling that the reason she chose the creature that she did was because the emerald green color of the hide really accentuated her crimson red hair and matched her green eyes quite well. “I’m all about whatever feels more comfortable—as you can see.” He was, of course, wearing his ever familiar blue jeans and black shirt. “This,” he motioned to his shirt. “Was made out of some level 100 bat thing from that undying dungeon I cleared and crafted by a beginner crafter that had no business using materials of such a high level.”

“That’s… nice,” Stella said. “Anyway, what brought you here today? More items to sell? Business propositions? Void Beasts? Or have you done something outrageous again and what to see the look on my face when you show me?”

“What? Can’t I just come to say hi after being gone for so long?” Derek asked.

“You can, but did you?” she asked with raised eyebrows.

“Actually,” Derek said. “I did,” he said. “I had to go deliver some things to Roman, then I stopped by the Adventurer’s Guild. After that, I figured it’d be nice to drop in and see what you’ve been up to. It’s only been a month and a half or so since the last time we met for me, but that like, what? Over a year and a half for you?”

“Something like that,” Stella replied. “So… I was third on your list?”

“Didn’t really make a list,” Derek said. “I just knew I was going to deliver some materials to Roman today… that was it. I didn’t have plans for the rest of the day. Thought I would probably spend most of it relaxing in my shop. It’s nice to be lazy for a change.”

“I’m sure it is,” Stella scoffed. “I miss the times when I took over as manager in Torith. I didn’t have to do anything there. It was nice,” she said, reminiscing. “You know… If not for you, I would still be there.”

“No, you wouldn’t,” Derek said.

“I wouldn’t?”

“Nope,” he replied. “Alanah would have dropped everything and went and picked you up if you were still there when the war started, and you know it. So, you would still be here. Well, maybe not exactly here, but you wouldn’t be there. Actually, with the way you work, you probably would have come back for the auction, and if not that, then you would have come back when Avery signed up for the raid. You wouldn’t have left Alanah short handed.”

“Maybe,” Stella said. “But would the auction have happened or would Avery had joined the raid if not for you walking into the restaurant that day?”

“Yes,” Derek said firmly. “I know that Alanah’s had eyes on me since before then. She would have found a way to meet, and we probably would have come to some of the same deals—especially the coffee.”

“Okay.” Stella shrugged. “You got me,” she said. “How are you enjoying being back?”

“It’s great,” Derek said. “I don’t like the fact that I missed out on a lot of stuff, but that’s something I knew was going to happen when I joined the raid. Though, I also thought it was going to take three months, so that would have been even worse. Oh, and have you seen Rayna?” Derek motioned to his belly with his hands. “I didn’t expect that so soon.”

Taken from Royal Road, this narrative should be reported if found on Amazon.

“Oh, I’ve seen her,” Stella chuckled. “But you expected it?”

“Those two were getting along way too well when I left,” Derek said.

“You should have seen them in the party,” Stella said. “Jacks does care a lot for her, though. I’m happy for the two of them.”

“Oh, don’t get me wrong,” Derek said. “I am as well. I just figured they would… you know… get to max level or something before they settled down. And they probably would have if not for Indria and Astrus invading.” Rayna had so much as told him so the day before.

“That’s true,” Stella agreed.

“Alright,” Derek leaned in. “So tell me… how well is Malorie doing?”

“She’s a natural,” Stella replied. “It’s a shame that she wasted all those levels in fighting classes. She’s like her daughter in that way. If she had been brought up in a city where she didn’t have to worry as much about survival as she did in her village, I have no doubt that she would have one of the larger merchant companies in Savannah—and that’s with her still being so young.”

“I had that same feeling,” Derek said. “It’s good to see that you think so as well.”

“Hopefully, all the management skills that Alanah and myself supplemented her with will allow her to branch into a more management center class once she reaches her next class upgrade. ” Stella explained.

“Are there any other management type skill scrolls that I need to look out for?” Derek asked.

“Of course,” Stella replied. “I’ve already put out the word that we’re in need of certain skill scrolls—ones that I was lucky enough to find for myself that I think would be great additions to the ones she already has. However, as you may have guessed, the supply of new scrolls has slowed greatly and we haven’t come by any.”

“That should be changing soon,” Derek said. “In fact, not only will things get back to normal, I imagine the supply of new materials and other dungeon items will increase by quite a bit now that the kingdoms are ‘friendly.’

“Yes, I imagine they will,” Stella agreed.

“If you find any of those skill scrolls, just let me know. I’ll be happy to buy them,” Derek said. “After looking after the shop for so long, she deserves them.”

“Oh, I know you’ll be paying,” Stella chuckled. “You’ve already paid quite a bit for the skills she’s gotten. I bet you don’t even know how much gold you have, do you?”

“Not a clue,” Derek said. “That’s one of the things I’ll have to check on sooner or later. But I’d rather worry about getting her the right skills first. I’ve found that money… it’s not too hard to come by for me.”

“Don’t let the merchants hear you say that,” Stella said while shaking her head. “Though, speaking of skills, it is unfortunate that she had missed out on some class specific ones that would have been available early on. And since she doesn’t have a management class currently, she won’t be able to get to that class upgrade without fighting to earn the experience.”

“Well,” Derek began. “That’s not a problem. I can just take her somewhere and let her poke some things with her staff before I finish them off. I’m pretty good at hand-feeding people experience points. Also, you don’t have a management centered class, do you?”

“That is true, and you are correct,” Stella said. She held out both hands and a pair of shiny cleavers appeared before she spun them around, then stored them once again. “I am working with skills given to me, or ones that I searched out through skill scrolls. I am quite good at my role here, but I am a fighter at heart. And, if you ask Alanah, I’m sure that she will agree that my fighting talent is as good, if not better than my management talent… even if my management skills have grown more than my combat skill over the years.”

“What about Avery?” Derek asked. “I’ve never talked with him about it, but he also manages things with Alanah, right?”

“Avery… isn’t that great at that sort of thing? He gets half the amount of work done in double the time than it takes me when it comes to managing the Crown Restaurant and Hotel, and he’ll tire himself out completely to not fall behind,” Stella said. “He’s… what’s the best way to put it…” she tapped her bottom lip with her finger. “Avery’s pledged his life to Alanah, no matter how against it she is. She saved him long ago, and his loyalty to her is unquestionable. I like to think that mine is, too, but Avery’s is on an entirely different level.”

“I’ve noticed,” Derek said. “He has a lot of faith in her.”

“He does,” Stella said. “She is a good person—even after everything she’s been through.” Stella sighed. “Avery is already one of the strongest people in the world… at least, I believe. But if he were to focus more on himself, I can only imagine how powerful he would become. I was so happy when she finally convinced him to go on the raid with all of you.

“Even when everything is going smoothly, it is hard for Alanah to convince him to take a break from her side. She even had him recruit Zachary and Lucas so he would at least have something more to do. She hoped that training them would light that fire and allow him to be a little selfish for once—she also wanted us to recruit some people to take the load off of our shoulders too,” she continued. “But it seems that what really did the job for Avery was when he joined that battle against Gerald and his grunts. I’m happy that he has that fire again.”

“Don’t worry,” Derek said. “Your secret’s safe with me.”

“Good.” Stella nodded.

“Anyway,” Derek started. “Avery said that you met Lyra.”

“That’s right.”

“What did you think of her?”

“I think that it was surprising that he tamed a beast that ended up being so like Alanah,” Stella replied. “Their skills may be completely different in how they work, but they have similar results. Though I didn’t speak with the winged serpent, I could feel the tug on my mind just from being close and looking at her.”

“I talked with her not long ago,” Derek said. “She is very strong. I think there’s a good reason that Edgar’s Blitz goes running any time her name is mentioned.”

“You mean Blitz the Magnificent?” Stella asked with a laugh.

“Yes… Blitz the Magnificent,” Derek replied with a smile. Blitz had a really good personality. “Anyway, you know that we brought you a dragonkin, too, right?”

“Avery did mention that in the short time he visited before joining everyone else,” Stella said.

“Well…” Derek began. “Would you like to go see them?”