System Change

Derek headed back downstairs to his travel room. On the way there, he glanced over at Brandi and Silvi and saw them still excitedly talking about the things they were finding in the ring. He smiled, sent Silvi a quick telepathic message that he was leaving to go hunt Void Beasts and that she could join him whenever she felt like it. Then he moved into the room and used Void Travel.

Once inside the void space, he located Edgar and moved towards the now duke of the country. Since Edgar was in the capital, it only took moments to reach his aura. Derek grasped forward at the space in front of him and ripped another portal open before stepping out.

“Derek!” Edgar half shouted before Derek’s foot even touched the floor of Edgar’s room. It looked like the man may have been in the process of removing his clothes and preparing himself a bath.

“Ah…” Derek muttered. “Did I catch you at a bad time?” he asked as he closed the portal so he wouldn’t scare any passing people.

“It’s never a bad time!” Edgar said happily. “I’ve always gained whenever you come to pick me up for one of your adventures. And even if I don’t, it’s always a good time.” The man leaned forward conspiratorially and whispered, “And even if it wasn’t, I’d still go. It’s like a prison here.”

“Why not just leave?” Derek asked.

“I promised my brother I’d stay until he got completely settled,” Edgar answered. “At this rate, I’ll be here for the rest of my life.”

“I don’t know,” Derek said. “He’s seemed pretty settled in every time that I’ve seen him lately. I think you’re good. Or are you actually just waiting for him to tell you to go?”

“Not sure.” Edgar shrugged. “But I guess it’s not all that bad. I’m actually not sure about where to go from here. I’ve outgrown my team by far. That, and Akeem has turned out to be a great leader. I would be doing him a disservice to come back now.”

“I see,” Derek said. Edgar was the person who Derek figured was most likely to be next when it came to achieving both requirements for advancement—he and Avery. But the man wasn’t ever going to do it if he stayed couped up in the palace with his family. “You need to get out and go risk your life in some hard dungeons. I know that’s not an easy thing to do for someone as strong as you, but you can do what you can at least. Just look at all the dungeons that have opened up to everyone lately. Surely there are a few worth doing.”“You’re right,” Edgar said. “That doesn’t sound like a bad plan. It’s been a while since the last time I ran dungeons solo… and the one under the palace doesn’t count.”

“That’s the spirit,” Derek said, then opened his mouth to tell Edgar why he was there, but was interrupted by two knocks on the door, then it slowly creeping open. Both Derek and Edgar turned to the door and saw Vanessa poke her head in with a half-smile.

“Edgar,” she said as she looked around, but she went motionless and wide-eyed when she saw Derek.

“Hey, Vanessa,” Derek said with a smile.

“Oh… uh… Derek.” Vanessa nodded, got her bearings, then said. “It is good to see you again.” Then she shifted back to Edgar. “Edgar, the king would like your help with some things at your earliest convenience.” After that, she nodded again, then left.

“Really?” Derek tilted his head and smiled at Edgar. Vanessa was way too flustered when she saw Derek to just be coming to inform Edgar that his brother needed him. Besides, there were communication crystals and Telepathy for something like that.

“What?” Edgar asked with a shrug. “Like I said, it’s not all bad here.”

“You don’t… hate her?” Derek asked. He remembered how heated he was when he saw her standing over Edward—then the subsequent ass kicking he gave the woman.

“Hate her? No, not at all,” Edgar said. “My brother forgave her, why shouldn’t I? Plus, she is very strong and made a good impression on me in the raid dungeon. And we’ve been working together lately.”

“I see,” Derek said. “Well… good for you.”

“And…” Edgar said with a big grin. “She is very beautiful.”

“That she is,” Derek chuckled.

“I doubt it goes anywhere, though,” Edgar said with a shrug. “We’re just having fun.”

“That’s none of my business,” Derek said. “But, since you seem very busy, maybe I should just leave.”

“What? And go where?”

“I was going to take you and Avery to hunt some Void Beasts,” Derek said. “But like I said.” He looked at the door to the room. “You seem very busy.”

Support the creativity of authors by visiting the original site for this novel and more.

“Psh… I’m not busy at all,” Edgar said. He reached up, buttoned a few buttons on his tunic, then flicked his wrist. His gleaming silver armor then appeared, covering his body. “Well, what are you waiting for?”

“Fine,” Derek laughed before turning around and activating Void Travel again. He looked back at Edgar, who was just putting away a red communication crystal, and said, “It’s a shame that I don’t have a pot to stuff you into.”

“Ugh… Don’t remind me,” Edgar said.

“Aright, be still,” Derek said, then placed his hand on the man’s back and stepped through the portal with him. Derek almost always made sure to close the portal behind himself, and this time was no exception. Once finished, Derek picked out the spot he planned to fight the Void Beasts and took off with Edgar.

“Wait here,” Derek said after opening the portal and placing the duke on the outside. “I’ll be back in a minute.”

“I’ll be here…” Edgar muttered as he looked around. “Wherever here is.”

Derek chuckled, then moved back through the void until he found Avery. Please don’t be in a bath or in the middle of something I don’t want to know about, he thought as he ripped the space open and stepped out. Derek sighed with relief when he stepped onto the sandy ground in the courtyard outside of the Crown Restaurant in the capital.

“Derek!” Clare’s voice sounded out as the young brawler ran up to him right after he closed the portal.

“Hey, kid,” Derek said as he ruffled her hair. “You in the middle of training?” he asked as he looked around.

Avery was standing there with a stern look on his face. He did not seem too happy that Derek interrupted their training… no, that wasn’t it. He was unhappy with Clare, not Derek.

“Ugh…” Lucas said as he walked up. “Clare! Why did you run off?” He rubbed at his thigh, where he’d gotten pierced by an arrow.

“Ah…” Derek muttered. As soon as he’d put his portal away, Avery had begun attacking the kids again. Of course, he was going extremely easy, but extremely easy from the archer was still miles above the children.

“Ms. Searidge,” Avery said as he walked towards Derek and Clare. “What have I told you about becoming distracted?”

“I’m sorry Mr. Swan,” Clare said.

“I’m sorry,” Derek said. “That was my fault. I could have told you I was on my way before I came.”

“No, Derek,” Avery said. “It is not your fault. This is not the first time that the young lady has gotten distracted in the middle of training, and the boys have had to pay for it.”

“Oh,” Derek said as he looked down at the girl, whose cheeks had flushed red in embarrassment. He grabbed the girl by the top of her shoulders and lifted her up out in front of him. “You shouldn’t make that a habit,” he said.

“I won’t!” Clare said with a firm nod.

“I’m going to check in with Avery on occasion, and we will see if you don’t,” Derek said. “Getting distracted in a fight is a sure way to get yourself or your team killed. And you don’t want to be known as someone who got her entire team wiped out, do you?”

“No!” Clare shook her head.

“Good,” Derek said and sat the girl back down onto the ground.

“Okay, take five!” Avery yelled at the kids, and all three of them sighed in relief. Lucas reached down and pulled the arrow from his thigh with a wince, then took a potion out of his storage ring and poured a few drops on the wound—healing it up nicely. Avery turned back around and looked at Derek. “So, what do you need?” he asked. “Just checking in on the girl?”

“No, actually…” Derek replied. “I wanted to see if you were free,” he said.

Avery looked around. “I’m not, but I easily can be.”

“Thought so,” Derek said with a chuckle. “I already picked Edgar up. I thought you might want to take up that offer of going Void Beast hunting with me.”

“Oh… now that sounds fun.” Avery’s mouth curled up in what looked like that of a predator’s, and a spark flashed in his eyes. Like that, the switched had been flipped from the kindhearted—kind of—teacher, to the battle junkie.

“Could be,” Derek said. “Depends on the Void Beasts. What comes seems to be the luck of the draw, and there are some that I’d rather not mess with.” This was also going to be Avery, Edgar, and Silvi fighting, not him. Though, he would step in if one of the same level or higher than Asher came. Well… he probably wouldn’t have to, thinking about those three—especially Silvi. It was nice adventuring with people that he would very rarely have to protect.

“You three!” Avery turned and called back out to the kids. All three of them instantly stopped what they were doing and formed a line. “The three of you go over what you have learned. Practice yourselves, don’t slack off. I’ll be heading off with Derek for some time. When I get back, I’ll be checking if you were diligent in your training. Do you understand?”

“Yes!” Clare, Zac, and Luke all shouted in unison.

“Good!” Avery shouted back. “Now go!”

“You’re really into this training thing, aren’t you?” Derek asked with a chuckle.

“I am,” Avery said. “Luke and Zac will be joining the Academy soon, and Clare will be following soon. I want to make sure that they are at the top of their respective classes during their time there. They will gain the most benefits that way, and it will prepare them for future success.”

“I think training with you every day would prepare them even better,” Derek said.

“Maybe,” Avery said. “But they also need to learn to socialize. They need to make friends and enemies of their own age and ranks. I can’t give them that, but the academy can.”

“I can’t argue against that,” Derek said. “And they’ll need more than just the three of them to form a proper dungeon team.”

“Yes,” Avery said with a nod. “At least two… maybe three.”

“I’ll be interested to see the decisions they make,” Derek said.

“As will I,” Avery replied. “Though, I believe that the three of them will be very picky about forming a team with others, so I don’t believe that we’ll have to worry.”

“No, probably not,” Derek said.

“Okay,” Avery said, then licked his lips. “Shall we go hunt some Void Beasts?”

“Of course!” Derek replied, then opened the portal once again. “You know the drill,” he said, then took Avery through the portal and back out—beside Edgar.

“Took you long enough,” Edgar said.

“He was in the middle of training the kids,” Derek replied as he finished closing the space behind him.

“Oh, is training going well?” Edgar asked Avery.

“As well as one could expect from a group of children,” Avery said. He didn’t talk them up, but Derek knew that they were already leagues ahead of other kids at their same age. Avery looked around. “Where are we?”

“We’re close to a dungeon that nobody ever runs in Indria,” Derek said. “Alanah and I came to it during our travels.” He continued. “It’s really far away from any of the cities, and it doesn’t have the greatest reward for the effort to get here and complete it, so people really only come out here when it’s on the verge of overflowing.”

“So, it’s a perfect place to fight some Void Beasts, then?” Edgar asked.

“Exactly,” Derek replied with a nod.

“Well then,” Avery said with an excited grin. “What are we waiting for?”