System Change

With Derek inside the void, he stood still for a few moments, thinking about everything. In the last year or two, he’d gone from any mentioning of the void, causing him anxiety to actually being inside, to it helping him calm down and think. Considering what he’d saw of living things that met with the void he entered for Void Travel, he was pretty sure that he and Silvi were the only two that could possibly feel that way—at least, the only two in his current system and probably the Universal System.

‘Where are we going? Why are we stopped?’ Silvi asked. She was still a bit full from overeating the magical food that Dave had given her, but he could tell that she was getting pretty close to normal. Expelling all that fire in the Cydarian Capital had helped her quite a bit. However, he could tell that she was still full just by the fact that she had stored the King’s Brew in her ring instead of trying to take a drink instantly.

‘I’m thinking,’ Derek said. ‘If I’m going to visit my old home, right now is the time,’ he explained. ‘The shop is in good hands with Malorie, and she’s prepared for us to be gone for a while. I think I’ve done everything I can for those I care about, too. It’s up to Edgar whether he wants to prepare anyone else, and I actually feel like I can trust Braxton to take care of all the armor.’

‘Then go home,’ Silvi said. ‘Nothing stopping you. Just you. You heard the tasty, weird, nice elf. If you want to go home, you go soon.’

‘You were listening?’ Derek asked, surprised.

‘Of course,’ Silvi replied. ‘Always listening… unless chewing too loud. Then sometimes listening.’

‘I see…’ Derek replied with a smile. ‘Well then… are you up for an adventure? Or do you want to stay here?’

‘Of course I go!’ Silvi replied, and he even felt her slightly move from her place on his shoulder.

‘That’s good,’ Derek said. ‘I was hoping you’d say that.’ He then scratched at his chin in thought. ‘Silvi…’

‘Hmm?’‘Do you think you’re well enough now to carry all the storage items in your pot?’ he asked. ‘Last time I tried to pinpoint my old home and acquaintances, I got the feeling that it was going to be quite a bit harder to get to them than it is to get to everyone around here. I know for a fact that it’s going to be one hell of a drain on my mana and stamina, and I don’t want to accidentally run out and lose control of my void shell.’

‘I am good!’ Silvi said. ‘You carry me… I carry stuff!’

‘That sounds like a good plan,’ Derek chuckled, and as he did, a small pot appeared, floating in front of them.

Derek carefully removed all his storage items without allowing the void shell to disappear and placed them inside the pot. He also held the shell around all of Silvi’s items and let her do the same. It would have definitely been easier and smarter to have done it all outside, but Derek hadn’t been sure of his plans, and he didn’t want to do it all in front of Darius.

He could have opened another portal and went outside, but, since he and Silvi were already inside, he figured that he might as well do it all while there. If nothing else, it was a good experiment with his Void Creation skill. Thinking that, he watched as Silvi folded up her cloak and placed it on top of Derek’s items. She then put all of her items—including her collar—on top of her cloak.

The next moment, a lid just big enough to cover the pot was formed and placed on top. The multiple latches on the lid were then secured to the pot and, according to everything he’d seen, the storage items were safe and secure. He also felt that his connection to the void shell he’d created around each one had gotten weaker, which was also interesting. He could only take it to confirm that Silvi’s skill was working just fine.

Derek released his skill and felt his connection disappear. ‘You good to go?’ he asked. He wanted to double and triple check that Silvi would be able to keep the pot formed the entire way. ‘I’m not sure how long this is going to take. The furthest that I’ve ever traveled is to the other continent on this world.’

‘I’m great!’ Silvi replied happily. ‘Still have waaay too much mana. This is good. It helps!’

‘That’s good!’ Derek said. Maybe her gorging herself on that food will come in handy.

‘Let’s go!’ Silvi commanded. ‘To Earth!’

‘To Earth!’ Derek repeated with a chuckle. Finally, his face turned serious, and he closed his eyes. Derek pushed his Void Sense to its limits—stretching it out as far as he could. The easiest way would be to find someone with a strong aura… he thought. So, the first person who came to mind was Jace.

Derek pushed and pushed, and, a little easier than the time before, he found the aura of his old… friend. It was a deeper red color than before, and it even sent a bit of a chill down his spine. Maybe I shouldn’t go to him… Derek thought. I don’t even think he was on Earth the last time I checked.

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Thinking that, Derek shifted his focus to Silvi Jaccobs. Surprisingly, it wasn’t too hard to find. She had a pink and purplish aura, but it wasn’t nearly at the strength of Jace’s blood red aura. It was faint, and kept popping in and out, but Derek felt that if he tried hard enough, he would be able to follow it. Just seeing them was enough before, but he hadn’t focused long on them because of the drain they caused.

One thing he could say for certain was that Jace and Silvi were very far apart from each other. And if his thoughts were correct, it was much more likely that Silvi was still on Earth than Jace was. Only one way to find out, Derek thought, then shifted his focus once again. He kept the focus close to Silvi’s aura, then looked for his old cabin. The reason he looked for the others’ aura first was that he always felt that it was easier to pinpoint and follow an aura than it was a place.

Though, while in Cydaria, the other countries, or basically anywhere on his current planet, were so easy to find that it didn’t matter which way he used. While looking, Derek started to get a little lightheaded. Instantly, he checked on his mana and was surprised to see that it was already at less than fifty percent. Just like I thought, he said to himself. At that moment, he was very happy that Silvi was carrying all the items.

So, Derek quickly thought to drink a mana recovery potion, but realized that they were all in his storage ring, and also that they would most likely go bad the instant he brought them out, so, instead, he tried to slip into Greater Meditation. Damn! He cursed inwardly. While slipping into Greater Meditation, he lost Silvi Jaccobs’ aura. Since he had already lost it, he decided to wait for his mana to completely regenerate before trying again.

Okay… he thought once his mana pool was filled. Let’s try this again, but quicker. Derek quickly reached out with his Void Sense and directed it straight to where Silvi’s aura was before. He found it, then he moved on to look for his cabin. There it is, he thought when he felt the area. Finding the cabin was enough to know that Silvi Jaccobs was, in fact, still on Earth.

Derek moved his focus away from the cabin and back to his old acquaintance. ‘You ready?’ Derek asked his companion.

‘Ready!’ Silvi replied.

‘I’m going to need you to really focus,’ Derek sent. ‘I don’t know if this will take anything out of you or not. Just let me know if it does.’

‘Kay!’ Silvi replied.

Then Derek took a step forward and leaped.

It had never taken him more than a few leaps or steps in the void before. Everyone had just been so close to him. It was the same for Silvi. A single hop had been able to get her to anywhere she wanted to go. So, this was the first time that Derek really moved in the void, and it was… weird.

It was like he was weightless, but not really. Moving along, straight to where Silvi Jaccobs’ aura was, it felt almost like he was using Void Shift, except he wasn’t exactly static. His body fell, and he did feel like he was touching something with his feet when he moved.

I wonder… he thought, then used Void Steps. Oh! Surprisingly, Void Steps worked very well in the void. He no longer had to float down before moving after every step. He could just toss a ripple—which was much more visible in the void than it was on the outside—under his feet, and kick off. Derek also kept an eye on his mana pool as he went.

After a couple of minutes, it was safe to say that using his Void Steps—even though each one of them took some of his precious mana away—was much more efficient than not because of the speed difference between both methods. Though, even with his Greater Meditation and his increased mana recovery from his wisdom—along with whatever remnants of Dave’s food that he’d only tasted—his mana pool was depleting pretty rapidly.

I never would have thought it would be this bad, Derek thought. And, with his mana pool depleting, he also started feeling mentally fatigued after what felt like half an hour. This came with a small headache—something he hadn’t experienced in quite a while. Even when he did, it was more of a quick pain, then gone. However, this was a well and true headache that seemed to be morphing into a migraine.

That made him think of Asher, and the second he did, he lost his concentration and Silvi’s aura slipped away. Oh well, Derek thought. My mana was running low anyway, and I was going to have to recover it soon. Might as well be now.

‘You doing okay?’ Derek asked Silvi while he was recovering.

‘Fine,’ Silvi replied. ‘Head hurt some. But fine.’

‘Okay,’ Derek said. ‘I’ll try to be faster.’ He found it interesting that Silvi’s head was also hurting. He’d thought that it was just because of his mental fatigue from his mana draining, but that might not have been the case. Or… that’s just not everything. ‘How bad does your head hurt?’ he asked.

‘Not bad,’ Silvi said. ‘Not really a hurt. Just… pressure.’

‘I see…’ Derek replied. He also had a weird pressure to go along with his headache. So, the pressure is separate? He asked himself. I hope I’m getting into something bad… Derek took another deep breath once his mana was filled up, then told Silvi that they were about to take off again.

After some time and a few more rest-stops to top off his mana, Derek noticed something. It’s slowing way down, he thought as he looked at his mana. But the pressure is quite a bit worse, he thought. Silvi had even complained about it to him a short time ago, which worried him. However, he pushed on. He got the feeling that the pressure wasn’t distance related or anything like that, but was more so because of the amount of time that they were spending in the void.

We should have tested that, he thought. They’d never actually just stayed in the void for an extended period of time, so it was something that was completely unknown, and also something he’d never even thought about.

However, Derek had a backup plan if the pressure continued to grow and it actually got bad. He would just rip open the void and go outside. At his current stats, he didn’t feel like being in the vacuum of space would pose much of a threat to him and Silvi. As far as he knew, they didn’t have a limit on how long they could hold their breath.

As it turned out, the pressure wasn’t something he needed to worry about. He soon got to the point where his mana stopped draining and his Greater Meditation was enough to cover the drain. Eventually, the aura he was heading towards was right under him, and he smiled.

Instead of ripping the void open right then and there, Derek pulled back his Void Sense and instead looked for his old cabin. It was extremely close by. So, with a relieved smile, Derek kicked off the void one last time and was there. In moments, he would be standing near the cabin where he’d spent his time after his family died and his entire time after the Universal System took over.

‘Are you ready to see my old home?’ Derek asked.

‘Ready!’

Derek took a deep breath, then he reached out.