System Change

“They’ve gathered all seven of them?” Derek asked just to make sure.

“Yes,” Jace replied. “Holcom was the last one to come back after he sent Xephos there. I saw both of them on the feed. And since I’ve already seen each of the others, it’s reasonable to assume that they are all there. I know for a fact that Amelia, Xephos, Holcom, Briya, and Kelvin are there. I either heard or saw each of those five. Trischa wouldn’t go anywhere without Amelia, so I’m sure she’s there, too. And I can’t think of a reason that Cuthos wouldn’t still be there.”

“Did they mention anything else? Anything important?”

“Actually…” Jace said with a grin. “They want to go over the plan in two days. The way I see it is that they want to get everyone up to speed and really prepare for you.”

“Isn’t that nice?”

“It really is.” Jace’s smile deepened.

“In that case, we’d better get to it,” Derek said. “Are you really good and ready?”

“I’ve never been better,” Jace replied. “Literally… I haven’t. A few of my skills leveled during our fight, so now that I’m healed, I’m the best I’ve ever been.”

“That’s what I like to hear,” Derek said. “Let’s go get everyone.”

A few minutes later, Derek and Jace were standing in the courtyard with a handful of people in front of them. Silvi was sitting on Ryven’s head, while Ashley, Marrick, and Ryven were standing. The group was small, but they all had an important role in the upcoming battle. David and a couple of other people were also there, but they weren’t going to be part of the actual attack.

“Okay,” Derek said, getting all of their attention. “All the Champions have gathered. Is everyone ready?” After seeing everyone nod, he continued, “The number one priority is not to die. If things even look a little bit bad, do your best to escape. And I’m talking to everyone…” he looked at Jace and Marrick. “Even the two of you.”

“Like I said,” Jace replied. “I’m not suicidal. You can’t have a good battle if you’re dead.” Marrick just nodded along.

“Silvi,” Derek said, shifting his focus to his companion. “If everything goes as planned, you’re not going to have access to the void once you enter the fight. Are you up for that?”

“I am!” Silvi shouted from her communication crystal in a child-like voice. Moments later, a shield appeared, and she jumped onto it. Instead of her usual pot lid that she created from the void, she had picked out a very durable shield from David’s arsenal. It didn’t take her long at all to get used to flying on it with her Telekinesis skills. Still, she made it clear that she preferred her pot lid and would have used one if she could have found one durable enough to survive attacks from the enemy.

Next, a cleaver appeared, hovering on each side of her body. They were both identical, each with a wooden handle that had a slight curve. The handle was around six or seven inches long, and there was a seven-inch-long blade. The top half of the blade was a deep black that slowly transitioned into a deep purple before turning a shimmering silver at the edge.

The two cleavers were the weapons that Tyron had made her specifically for the invasion. She already had plenty of practice with them, as she had been using them for cooking ever since receiving them. Derek couldn’t help but be in awe of the legendary ability they had been given. Each cleaver had a skill that was almost like his own Multi-Strike skill.

However, instead of each attack just hitting twice, one cleaver became two. The craziest thing was that the skill was a controlled passive—like his Enigma Achievement. She could turn it on or off when she wanted, with no cooldown. So, by controlling only two blades, she could actually control four.

Just to hammer home that point, while everyone was looking at the two hovering cleavers, they began slowly revolving around her small body. Suddenly, both blades split, and there were four. After that, she increased the speed. Soon, it was like she was a planet with a solid ring around her.

“I see you’ve been practicing,” Derek said with a look of astonishment. He didn’t know that Silvi would be able to use her Telekinesis to such an extent. With the legendary daggers on top of her stats and dragon fire… Derek had no doubt that his companion would be okay if she joined the fight. He actually felt sorry for anyone who got in her way.

“Mhm…” she muttered as the spinning slowed. Then, the two extra blades formed back into the original, and the blades completely stopped. Once again, they were just hovering right there.

“Those are great!” Jace suddenly shouted. “Did you give them a name?”

Stolen from NovelFire, this story should be reported if encountered on Amazon.

“I did!” Silvi perked up and floated closer to the bald man. A second later, the cleaver on her right shot up and appeared a couple of inches from Jace’s eyes, which didn’t even cause him to flinch. Silvi said, “This one is called Beautiful…” then the other one took its place, and she continued, “And this one is called Delicious!”

“Haven’t…” Derek said with a sigh. “You already used those names for other things… and people?”

“They are great names!” Silvi replied. “This one makes beautiful food, and the other one makes delicious food.”

“I… see,” Derek laughed. “Well… if you like them, then who am I to judge?”

“Mhm…” Silvi nodded, then hopped back over to Ryven’s head after storing her shield and weapons.

“Are the two of you prepared, too?” Derek asked Ryven and Ashley. The two looked at each other, then nodded.

“We are!” they answered simultaneously.

Derek then looked at Marrick, and the Old Goblin only nodded firmly. “Great!” Derek clapped his hands. “In that case, the three of you are up.”

“It’s time for Project Beat the Ever Loving Shit Out of All the Champions Until They Run Home Crying for Their Mommas to begin!” Jace shouted.

“We should have workshopped a name…” Derek muttered and shook his head. He really wanted to facepalm. They hadn’t even talked about a name for the plan, but apparently, Jace had been thinking about it. Oh, well… he thought as he watched the three prepare to take off.

“Do… we really have to get in that? Together?” Ashley asked as she looked at the giant pot that Silvi had just created.

“Yup,” Derek said. “It’s the best and only way to get you two to the spot together.”

“Hop in!” Silvi shouted through her crystal.

Ashley and Ryven looked at each other and sighed. Then, the two walked over to the freshly created pot and stepped over the side before sitting down inside. Silvi tossed all of her items inside with them, then closed and locked the lid onto the pot so none of the dangerous void energy could creep inside.

Derek looked at Silvi, then at the pot, and nodded. “Okay, Silvi. It’s all up to you now. You know exactly what you need to do, right?”

‘Of course!’ Silvi chirped inside his head. ‘I’ll be back!’

After that, Silvi created a tear in space, then hopped inside with the pot hovering just over her head.

***

Silvi made it to one of the spots where she’d met with Ashley before and tore an exit portal into the void. She hopped out and placed the pot on the ground. A few seconds later, she removed the lid and watched the human-looking woman and the elf stand up. They were still very cramped. She could have made the pot much larger, but that would have been a little more inconvenient for her. Why would she inconvenience herself when she could inconvenience others and get the same result?

The two people stepped out of the pot, then turned and looked at Silvi.

“Thank you, Silvi,” the elf said with a bow. “We will take it from here. Give us…” he looked over at the white-haired woman.

“About five minutes to get in place, then…” she said.

“About five minutes for me to set up the barriers,” Ryven finished. “So, at least ten minutes.”

Silvi nodded, then casually shrunk the pot to just big enough to fit her equipment, then hopped back inside. A few seconds later, she was sitting on the ground in front of Derek with the exit portal closed, but the entrance behind her still open.

‘Ten minutes!’ she said to Derek via their connection.

“Got it,” Derek replied out loud, then looked at Jace. “Ten minutes. Are you ready?”

“I’m always ready,” Jace replied.

“That means about thirty minutes for you,” Derek said to Marrick.

“I’m ready.”

“Good,” Derek said. Then, they waited. He allowed just a little over ten minutes to go by before nodding at Silvi and Jace. “Time to taxi,” he said to his companion, and she let out a cute sigh before expanding the pot again—this time, just large enough for Jace to fit inside.

Jace got inside without any fanfare, and she closed the lid. A few moments later, she hopped inside with Jace in tow. This time, she moved to one of the other spots that Ashley had gone to for her. After hopping back out, she didn’t bother to close the portal behind her. It would just be another inconvenience for her to open it back up when she needed.

So, she removed the lid, and Jace popped out. He looked around, then smiled at Silvi and said, “Thank you! I’ll be back soon!”

Silvi nodded at the man. He was always so nice. He was a really good friend. She thought all of this while she watched him make his way to one of the stupid arrays that the invaders all came out of. Once he was finished in there, she just had to drop him off at one or two more—depending on how he felt—then she could head to the Stronghold and start chopping.

***

“Do you think everything will go as planned?” Marrick asked Derek as they waited.

“It usually doesn’t,” Derek said. “But I have hope. Really, as long as I am able to look at and Identify each of the seven remaining Champions, this invasion is as good as over. I doubt there is any way that they can keep me there if I choose to escape.”

“I was thinking the same thing,” Marrick replied.

“Besides,” Derek said. “In the worst-case scenario, I escape after getting a good look at each one of them, but the Champion they call Trischa puts up some anti-void field so I can’t travel in and out as I please. In that case, I’ll just go pick up Braxton. Then, you, me, Braxton, Silvi, and Jace can just go attack straight up.” He looked over at David and said, “You can even come if you want.”

“I am sure that adding that drunkard would be more than enough,” Marrick replied.

“My thoughts exactly,” Derek said with a nod. “I just want this to work because there’s less of a chance that anyone other than myself gets hurt this way. And I’m more than fine with being hurt.”

“Yes… I saw your battle with Jace…” Marrick muttered.

“Exactly…” Derek replied with a laugh. Then he looked at the time and said, “It’s been about ten minutes since Silvi and Jace left. I’m sure that the Champions have noticed that there is something wrong with their communications by now, but I doubt they’ve had enough time to make any plans about it yet.”

“I agree,” Marrick said. “But this is as long as I would wait.”

“Same,” Derek said. “Well, I’ll see you on the other side… probably. If I don’t see you here before you get there.” With a quick wave goodbye, he jumped into the portal that Silvi had left open, then turned his Void Sense to the max. With a smile that would make Jace’s look friendly, he locked on to Kelvin. The aura was quite close to him already, which meant that he was definitely at the Virendell Stronghold.

Derek took a couple of big steps towards the aura, then he was there. He reached out and grabbed at the void. Here goes nothing. I wonder if that guy misses me.