System Change

Chapter 583: Best Friend

“Well,” Derek said. “The system that I landed in doesn’t actually have a system store. You have to do everything the hard way. You have to find a blacksmith and then hope they will help you. And there aren’t nearly as many on this planet as there were in the system store.”

He then summoned Harbinger and tossed a big piece of meat into the air. He activated Material Drain, and the meat fell onto the sphere and vanished. He looked at the durability and saw that it was finally almost back to full health. He smiled, then said, “But I think I did good enough, don’t you?”

“Legendary?” Jace asked.

“Yup,” Derek said.

“Mine, too,” Jace said.

“Both of them?”

“They are a set, so… yeah,” Jace replied. “They have the same skill that I do… it’s just not as strong.”

“Yeah…” Derek said. “That was the first time that I’ve really seen Harbinger take so much damage so quickly. You definitely have a good set of blades.”

“A lot of good they did against that cheat armor that you’re wearing,” Jace snorted.

“Well… I found a really… really good smith,” Derek replied with a shrug, then put Harbinger away. Jace did the same. “So,” Derek said. “Why don’t you have some kind of flying skill yet?” As far as he could tell, other than it taking time for Jace to gain power for a fight, and the fact that he seemed purely physical, him not being able to fly was one of the biggest things holding him back.

“I’ve looked,” Jace said. “I’ll find one that fits me eventually. I don’t want to end up with a giant pair of wings coming out of my back or something lame like that. Those are the most common in the system store. Flying skills are also very expensive, so I want to make sure I choose the right one the first time. Even with all my Battlefield Planet earnings, I wasn’t able to afford the multi-directional controlled movement ones. It’s especially hard since I don’t have much mana, either. But I will find one that works for me and my Battlelust, eventually.”

“I see,” Derek said. He really couldn’t say anything else about the matter. Jace had his reasons, and they were all sound. “Who knows? There might be one that runs on Battlelust or something.”

“Oh!” Jace’s eyes lit up, and he flicked his wrist. A cardboard box appeared next to him on the couch. “I almost forgot.” He picked it up and handed it to Derek.

“What’s this?” Derek asked as he took the box from Jace and looked down into it.

“When I decided that I was through with Earth, and I didn’t know how long it was going to take you to come back,” Jace began. “I packed a bunch of the stuff inside, just in case.”

Derek’s eyes widened as he reached in. When he pulled his hand out, he was holding a frame with a picture of his sister. It was all he could do to hold back his tears. “Th-thank you,” he finally said. Then, he began taking everything else out. It was all pictures—pictures that he’d kicked himself for not storing in his bracelet. He liked seeing them when he opened the door to his cabin, so he’d left them all out.

There were pictures of his sister, mom, and dad. Some were even of all three. His favorite one of himself and his sister wasn’t there, but that was fine. He couldn’t believe that the crazy Jace was actually thoughtful enough to do something like this.

“Yeah,” Jace said. “I’m glad I did because I visited the place a while later, and there was nothing left. The monsters in the area really did a number on that cabin once I stopped clearing them out.”

“I really don’t know what to say,” Derek said. He had spent such a long time in the void that he could barely even remember what any of them looked like. He would have completely forgotten if not for his wisdom stat, which made things in his memory become a bit clearer.

“What is there to say?” Jace said with a shrug. “I was there, and it took like… two seconds to grab things.”

“Still…” Derek sighed. “I owe you,” he said.

“Yeah, you do,” Jace replied. “You owe me a bunch of fights once I heal up. And you better not run like all those other bastards.”

Derek winced. He was leaving soon. I wonder if he’d want to go with me… would it even be safe to bring him along? He thought about it, but shrugged it off. That was something that he could think about later, when the time to ascend drew closer. Besides, with Void Travel, it wasn’t like he would be trapped wherever he ended up going.

Finally, after giving each picture a long look, Derek put them all back inside the box, then stored it inside his bracelet. “Well… I’m certainly never going to run from a fight against you,” he said.

A case of literary theft: this tale is not rightfully on Amazon; if you see it, report the violation.

“Good!” Jace’s grin grew wide. “That’s why you’re my best friend, and there’s nothing you can say to change it. Even if I’m not your best friend.”

“Right…” Derek chuckled. “Well, we are most definitely friends.”

“Now, tell me everything about you!” Jace said. “What happened?”

“Well… after I was trapped inside the void…” Derek started, then spilled everything that happened to him. He didn’t hold back. He let Jace know about all the time he spent inside the void and his time on the planet. He even pushed his luck a couple of times when hinting about Dave.

“Hmm…” Jace rubbed his chin in thought. “I wonder if you sent me into the void if I could train for that long. It would be hard not having people and beasts to fight. Void Beasts are fun, but it sounds like they are hard to come by. Leveling my meditation skill up would be good, though.”

“You don’t want to be trapped in there…” Derek shook his head and rolled his eyes. “It was horrible for me, and I think it might be even worse for you. I was used to being alone and meditating already. You crave constant battle. You would go in… even more insane.” He smiled at the end.

“True,” Jace said with a nod. “But it sounds like you had a lot of fun once you got out. I can’t believe that you can really just grow your body parts back. If I chop off your head, would it grow back onto your body, or would your body grow back onto your head?”

“Uh… I… don’t know,” Derek said. “But that’s not something that I want to find out, so let’s not test it. I’m still pretty wary about my brain.”

“I’ve had a claw go through my temple before while my Battlelust was pretty full,” Jace said. “I went really dumb for a while, but it healed. With your healing, I think you’ll be okay. You probably won’t even go too dumb.”

“Right…” Derek muttered. “Of course that’s happened to you. Why wouldn’t it? Still… we can save that testing for another time. A time far… far… far in the future.”

“Suit yourself,” Jace said. “But it’s better to know your limits before a battle. That way, you don’t go stupid and kill all the monsters to a point where all their materials become unsalvageable. My Battlelust already makes it hard enough to control myself, so, with that on top of it… I lost a lot of system credits.” He then tilted his head. “But you don’t have Battlelust, so it might not be so bad. You won’t know until you try.” He looked at Derek with hope in his eyes.

“You are not sticking your kukri into my brain as an experiment.”

“Fine…”

They chatted for a little while longer, then Derek said, “You know, you’re not so bad. Why did you never stick around after our fights?”

“Uh… because you wouldn’t let me,” Jace replied. “You were always crying and whining about a broken leg or arm or something. You were always much more fun before and during the fight than you were after. You seem okay now, though. And I definitely broke your arms and legs a couple of times out there, so it’s nice to see that you’ve grown as a person.”

“Right…” Derek was left speechless.

“Besides,” Jace continued. “I always had that cowardly monk to hunt. I just know he’d have been a good fight.” His eyes then went wide. “You can track him down, can’t you? You’ve met him before, right?”

“I have,” Derek said with a sigh. “But he didn’t really leave an impression on me. We never fought. I don’t even remember what he looked like. Really, the only people from back then that I would be able to find are you, Silvi, and probably Big Jim.”

“Oh… that’s a shame,” Jace said with a sigh.

“Besides, he’s probably nowhere near our current level. Honestly, I was surprised that you were even max level. You didn’t have the luck that I did when I arrived here at a different system, so you must have worked hard.”

“I wasn’t until recently,” Jace said. “When I heard about the possibilities, I pushed myself. I spent so many nights fighting without any rest—spent so much time slaughtering beasts and clearing Battlefield Planets—it was exhausting. I loved it! I wish I had pushed myself that hard sooner. And now, all my skills are even getting close to being fully leveled. Oh! Speaking of…” his eyes drifted off into space, then he smiled. “My Surge of War gained another level after using it against you. Nice!”

“Right…” Derek said again. Speaking to Jace was like a roller coaster. Sometimes, he was nice and sentimental. Other times, he was just fun to talk to. But when he got going about fighting or skills, he was a completely different animal. He’s like Avery, but times ten… no… one hundred. Derek wore an amused smile as he listened to the man in front of him speak about the Battlefield Planets and his skills.

However, midway through Jace explaining his skill that automatically targeted the most readily available vital area of an opponent, Derek felt a slight dread fill the room. It was one that he knew all too well. Well, this should be interesting.

Jace stopped speaking, then his eyes locked onto Derek in confusion. They then shifted to a space beside him, then back. “Are you using that skill again? The one that you were using when you showed up?”

“Not exactly,” Derek replied with a chuckle.

“Then what…” Jace started, but a small space opened up before he finished. Then, out came Silvi, floating on an entire pot—lid and all.

She instantly closed the space behind her, then dismissed her pot. Moments later, she was dressed in her full cloak and collar. She disappeared, then reappeared on Derek’s shoulder.

“Where you been? Maniac keeps asking,” she asked.

“Here, talking to my old friend,” Derek answered. He then looked at Jace, then back to Silvi. “Jace, Silvi… Silvi… Jace.”

“Oh!” Jace snapped his fingers. “This is the bunny that tried to kill you that you named after Silvi… who almost killed you.” He recounted the part of Derek’s story about his companion.

“That’s her,” Derek said.

“Silvi!” Jace jumped to his feet, then groaned. “Ugh…” He shook his head to clear it. “It’s nice to meet you! We should fight! I hear you’re very strong.”

“I am,” Silvi said. “But… you look dead.”

“Well…” Jace sat back down gingerly. “We shouldn’t fight now. But soon. Once I’ve recovered.”

“Maybe,” Silvi answered nonchalantly. She then looked back at Derek. “You coming home?”

“Probably not for a bit,” Derek said.

“Okay… I’ll tell Mania… Brandi,” she said, ignoring Jace. Then she hopped off Derek’s shoulder and began to form another pot.

“Wait!” Jace said, causing Silvi to stop and look back at them. “Derek said that you’re a really good chef.”

“I am.”

“Here,” Jace said, then he flicked his wrist and a severed tail fell to the floor.

“What’s this?” Silvi asked as she hopped to the tail and began examining it.

“It’s the tail from a really strong lizard.”

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