System Change

The way Klaus was staring at Derek made him unconsciously tense up. It wasn’t unlike how it had been when Natalie had basically looked through him and some of his experiences. It was always the unique abilities and skills that threw Derek off. He could handle physical and magical attacks—he could even handle mind attacks now—but mysterious, non-threatening abilities seemed to give him the chills.

“What do you mean by that?” Derek asked. Inwardly, though, he wondered if the man was able to see things that whatever the evolution he’d gone through changed. He didn’t know exactly how deep Klaus could see, but it looked like he was about to find out.

“Your body… your molecules… their structure…” Klaus muttered as he continued eying Derek up and down. “It’s all different from anything I’ve ever seen.”

“Isn’t that normal?” Derek asked.

“Well… yes and no,” Klaus took a deep breath and leaned back in his seat. After a moment, his continuously shifting eyes landed on a single color and stayed static. “Everyone has a different structure, and by that, I mean that no two people are the same. Then there are the differences between humans, elves, dwarves, and other species, but there are commonalities among everyone. Especially in how they combine with their classes.”

“What do you mean?” Derek asked, intrigued.

“Well,” Klaus said. “When I examine the makeup of someone who has yet to awaken the Great System, there is nothing very special about them. They have the basic structure that all others of that species have—other than the small bits that make them unique. Then, they awaken the system, and the higher they level and more powerful they become, their structure changed. In most instances, one’s structure is made of the basic structure of their species, but their class adds to that structure. Let’s take one of the more basic magic classes… Fire Mage, for example.”

“What about it?”

“If I examine someone’s molecules just after they get the class, they are all pretty normal. But, if I examine them again, long after they’ve obtained their class and upgraded and grown stronger, I will be able to see the structure that represents their class along with the structure that represents them, but, though the molecules representing their class are there, they don’t formally combine or blend together—at least not much.”

It sounds like he may be talking about affinity, Derek thought. “What do you see with me?” he asked.“That’s the thing,” Klaus replied. “Your structures aren’t separated. With everyone else, I can see that they are human or elf and are using fire or ice, or even sword or spear, but with you… you are your element. You are void. There is no separation in you. Your human structure has blended so perfectly with your class that I wouldn’t even know where to begin. It’s completely and utterly fascinating. I didn’t even think it possible.”

It is definitely affinity that he’s talking about, Derek thought. The word affinity had come up in his conversations with Alanah, Natalie, and even Walter, but it didn’t have the same meaning behind it as it had when the Origin System stepped in to help Derek evolve. For them, it was just a word to describe someone’s closeness or fondness to their class or element—which wasn’t too far off. But as far as he knew, they didn’t know that it was an actual calculated, quantitative thing. Because of the Origin System, Derek knew that his affinity with the void element was over 50%.

Derek didn’t know exactly what that meant, but his conversation with Klaus was giving Derek a little more insight into his evolution. Maybe reaching 50% with one’s affinity is what triggers the evolution and causes someone to actually combine with their affinity. It was a sobering thought that he was actually combined with the void—especially after all the trouble it had caused him before.

I really am ‘one with the void.’ I wonder what he would see if he examined Silvi. Actually, this also kind of explains why some bonded beasts change to their master’s element and others don’t, especially with the system helping them along in their evolution. In his mind, Derek visioned a beast companion being forcefully invaded by ‘molecules’ of the ‘master’s’ class. It certainly wouldn’t want to give a pig an affinity with a spear, so I imagine that’s where the system’s help comes in.

Avery chose Lyra for her mind abilities and because she reminded him of Alanah, so her keeping that affinity makes sense. Silvi, on the other hand, was pretty mindless and had no real affinity… unless head-butting is considered an affinity—if it is, her affinity would have been at 100%. But since it isn’t, her picking up the void lines up.

Later on, as he knew with Silvi, the bonded companions with full system access—mostly—would get a chance to help direct their own evolutions. If that wasn’t the case, then Silvi would have continued to be that same full-on void companion instead of a void and cooking companion. Overall, Derek had to agree. It was pretty fascinating. And it’s also way above my pay grade.

“There you go again,” Klaus said. “Deep in thought.” He snapped his fingers in front of Derek’s face. “Do people not call you out on that?”

“No,” Derek said. “Not usually.”

“Well… it’s not noticeable to anyone who isn’t studying you deeply,” he said. “Anyway, in all my years and travels on this planet, I have never seen a specimen such as yourself. Simply amazing!”

Stolen from its rightful author, this tale is not meant to be on Amazon; report any sightings.

“Specimen?” Derek raised his eyebrows. He did not like the way that sounded to him.

“Poor choice of words.” Klaus waved off Derek’s concern. “Though, I would be beyond happy if you would let me study you. There are so many possibilities… if I could just understand what is going on inside your body. Perhaps… I could find a way to renew myself without the destruction of my own stats, or even retrieve stats that I thought lost. It’s all just so… new.”

Derek was getting the feeling that he was sitting across the table from Roman, and he was a never before seen, new material that would be perfect for making a new alchemy recipe. He wasn’t a big fan of that feeling. He decided to change the subject a bit.

“So, you said before that you permanently lose stats when you revert your age, right?” Derek asked.

“Yes.” Klaus nodded. “With each renewal, it seems that my capacity for stats diminishes. I see that most people are able to push a bit past 1,500 points in a particular stat before they cannot hold any more. Unfortunately, my capacity has lowered.”

“What about your thresholds? Do they revert back?”

“No… luckily. The way my body is able to use stats is still the same as before I lost the capacity. So, I may only have… let’s say… 1,300 vitality points, but each individual vitality stat is still counted as if I had broken through the third threshold.”

“So your 1,300 points are still much better than another’s 1,300 since they have never gotten to the third threshold.” Derek nodded. “I see…” It feels like a reverse evolution, he thought. I evolved and, according to Dave, my body can hold much more ‘essence’ than it could before. He devolves and loses his capacity. It would be interesting to see what he could do after ‘studying’ me—if he could really modify himself, and only himself, on such a level. Derek eyed Klaus up and down, the same as the Guild Leader had done to him.

“You said before,” Derek started. “You can’t experiment on other people, right?”

“Right,” Klaus said with a small nod of his head. “Why?”

“I just wanted to make sure that you weren’t some evil scientist that was going to take what he learned and… well… I’m sure you know how that story goes,” Derek said.

“Ah… yes,” Klaus replied. “There are those types of people. But I assure you, because of the limits to my class, the only person with access to the system that I can modify is myself. Even if I were able to do such things to others, I have to believe that I would not. At least not unless it was said person’s idea, and they truly wanted me to.”

“In that case,” Derek said. “If I were to agree to let you study a part of me, what would I get in return?” he asked. Losing a pinky for a few minutes would be a good trade if I can get something out of it that I can’t get elsewhere.

“What is in it for you?” Klaus said and rubbed his chin. “I know!” His eyes lit up. “How would you like to become the new Guild Leader? I am old, and my strength isn’t what it used to be. The guild needs someone strong and with…”

“Pass,” Derek said, without even letting the man finish his pitch.

“To be fair,” Klaus replied. “I had planned on asking you that question to begin with.”

“Really?” Derek asked.

“Well, maybe not to begin with,” Klaus said. “But after I examined you, yes.”

“Why?”

“As I just said, I am old and lacking in strength. I am still invincible, but I do not feel that my offensive capabilities are what they should be for a Guild Leader anymore,” he explained. “But the biggest selling point was that I cannot see your age… or should I say… your capacity for longevity.”

“What do you mean?”

“As far as I know, with your blended or fused structure, your longevity could have extended beyond what the final breakthroughs in vitality and endurance can grant. But I can’t be certain… it’s only a theory. I wouldn’t know for sure without studying you.” Klaus pointed at Derek. “But, if I’m correct, then having a Guild Leader that will be around for centuries or even millennia again would be a great boon. And as far as I can theorize, you won’t lose your own capacity as you get older.”

“Huh…” Derek muttered. Once he saw that his vitality and endurance had surpassed the 1,500 point mark and had gotten rid of the question marks behind it after his evolution, he thought it may have been the case that his longevity could have been expanded. Still, though… “Just like I told the others when they asked me to become ‘king’ of Astrus after everything… no. I’m not becoming the Guild Leader,” he said. What’s the deal with everyone asking me to run things? That would just be so much more work for Malorie.

“That is too bad,” Klaus said with a sigh. “I still have some centuries left to find someone, though. Perhaps I’ll have better luck later, now that I am looking for someone.”

“Good luck with that,” Derek said.

“Thank you,” Klaus nodded. “But as far as things I can offer you, I do not think I have anything that would be of interest. I do not believe I have any skills or potions left that would be of benefit to you—I have given many out as rewards over the centuries, and I haven’t been out to collect more in some time. So, other than sharing whatever discovery I might make with you, I don’t believe I have anything else to offer… assuming you don’t need any gold.”

“I definitely don’t need any money,” Derek said. Then, with a shrug, he said, “But I am interested in what is so different between me and others. And, it’s probably not a bad idea to have the Guild Leader of the Adventurer’s Guild owe me one.” He smiled.

“You can never have too many of those,” Klaus said as he nodded, his eyes shining in anticipation. “And I would definitely be in your debt.”

“Fine,” Derek said. “I’m not going to make you take an oath or anything, but I would appreciate it if you do your best not to go telling anyone anything you may learn about me.”

“You don’t have to worry about that. I wouldn’t dare unless I had explicit permission granted by you.”

“Good,” Derek said. Then, he held his hand out in front of himself with his fingers spread and focused on activating and aiming his skill. Soon, a very small cube appeared just over the final knuckle on his pinky finger. With a deep breath, Derek activated Spatial Collapse.

The skill didn’t have the same anti-healing properties as Spatial Rend did, so he wasn’t too worried about healing. He prepared himself for the pain, but it actually wasn’t that bad. He’d definitely been through worse. It wasn’t even as bad as when he lost a finger to Tevarian, and he still hated blunt damage and his organs being jarred around much more than being cut.

With a ‘thud,’ the top half of Derek’s pinky fell to the table. The bottom half—with his knuckle—vanished from the collapse in space. Derek shook his hand a few times, causing blood to be strewn about.

“What are you doing?!” Klaus said, half shocked, then a red communication crystal appeared in his hand. “I’ll call for a healer.” He made to use the communication crystal, but Derek stopped him.

“Stop.” He held up his freshly wounded hand. “That won’t be necessary.” Then, Derek activated Greater Meditation and focused on his missing finger. He wanted to be prepared to stop just in case his foot and other pinky growing back were just anomalies. Fortunately, they weren’t. In front of his eyes—and Klaus’s color shifting gaze—his pink finger grew back.

“Fascinating,” Klaus said as he stared at Derek’s fully healed hand. “Truly fascinating.”