System Change

Once Logan finished speaking with Derek about his system traveling, he spoke about some more mundane things with him for a short time. The information that Derek had given the patriarch wasn’t something he’d just offer up to anyone, but—especially after speaking to Logan about it for some time—it wasn’t the kind of information or secrets that would really put Derek in danger if it got out.

And because Logan had so accurately figured out the ascension stuff about Derek, Derek did not think it would be a good idea to lie to the man. He’d also gained more respect from Derek by the way he’d gone about asking. He hadn’t told anybody else of his suspicions and had gone straight to Derek. The man even changed the subject and talked about regular things after the mini-interrogation just to help Derek put his mind at ease.

After just a bit longer, Logan said, ”It was very interesting meeting you, young friend. Ancestor Sheen really does know how to choose them. It will be a boon to our house to have that old man taking an interest in the younger generation once again... as long as they survive.”

”I don’t envy them,” Derek replied.

”It is many from House Warp’s dream to be under the tutelage of their ancestor,” Logan said. ”It will be hard, but most will grow to be better because of it.”

”I hope so.”

”I believe so,” Logan replied. ”Now, I must take my leave and get back to work. With Bastian out of commission for a moment while picking up after himself, all the matters of the clan fall to me. We will probably not meet again for some time, but if you are around when I transcend, you will be invited to the celebration. Do take care of yourself, young man. And be very careful with what you say and display once you arrive in Origin City. There are old monsters in that place who are much more perceptive than I am—and some of them have a real problem when it comes to minding their own business.”

”It was good meeting you, and I would love to celebrate your rise to Transcendent with you if I am around when it happens,” Derek replied, giving the man a small bow with a clasped fist. ”I will do my best to be more low-key. Meeting you and Sheen has really opened my eyes. I thought I was doing well in hiding my origins, but you just kind of picked that apart. It seems I have a lot to learn about keeping secrets.”

”You will figure it out in time,” Logan replied. ”Nobody will think twice unless they take a keen interest in you. But once people learn of your backing, many of those people will back off, too. Just remember to be careful. The System Universe is unfathomably large, and you never know what kind of person you’re going to run into next.”

”I will,” Derek replied, and with that, the patriarch nodded at Derek, then disappeared. Finally, Derek found himself standing high in the air, alone. Wait a second! How am I supposed to get down? he thought as he looked down. However, he didn’t have to think about it too long, as the invisible floor he’d been standing on—the one created by the patriarch for him—disappeared from out from under him.

What a shitty time to not be able to use Void Steps or Void Shift, Derek thought as he began to fall. He could technically use Powerstride to try to reach the ground instantly, but that would not only be weird, but it would also look weird. So, in the end, he decided to just fall. The gravity didn’t seem much different from how it was on Earth, and he was well past a fall being able to hurt him. So, Derek just fell through the sky.

I hope there’s nobody standing directly below me. That would be awkward, Derek thought as he looked down at the soon-to-be rapidly approaching ground. Luckily, everyone was still cleared out from the fight before, and all the elders showing up all at once.

Derek hit the ground in a sort of superhero landing—creating an impression in the dirt and sending up some flying dust—and looked around. Though there wasn’t anybody in the training area, there were still plenty of people in the viewing areas. When Derek landed, all those eyes turned to him.

The guy could have at least brought me back to the ground and helped me not cause even more of a scene, Derek thought as he stood up and brushed the dirt off his naked knee. After standing, he quickly flicked his wrist and was covered in his jeans and tee once again.

”Derek!” Alex’s voice suddenly appeared from behind him. When he turned and looked, he saw a very pale Alex rushing his way.

”Alex,” Derek said with a nod.

”What was all that? What happened? Who won? Was that Patriarch Logan? Why was he here?” Alex began bombarding Derek with questions about the fight between the elders.

”Sheen won,” Derek started by answering the easy question. ”The vice patriarch is doing rounds fixing things that he broke in his final attack. That was Patriarch Logan. He wanted to see why two of the higher-ups in your clan were fighting, and I think he also wanted to watch them do so. He seemed pretty happy that Sheen won and stepped down from being a hall master.”

”What?!” Alex looked at Derek with wide eyes. ”All of that? Then... Garrett?”

”Looks like he’s banished from the clan for a decade or something like that,” Derek replied with a shrug.

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”Just a decade?” Alex paused for a moment, then nodded. ”That’s not too harsh. Ten years will go by very quickly for him.”

”Yeah, that’s what I was thinking, too,” Derek replied.

”What about Hall Master Sheen?” Alex asked. ”You said he’s not a hall master anymore because he won?”

”Yeah, pretty much,” Derek replied. After that, he gave Alex a quick recap of everything that had happened with Sheen and Bastian—along with some of the stuff that the patriarch had talked to him about. Though he decided that Alex didn’t need to know everything.

”Wow... so... Hall Mas... no... Ancestor Sheen is going to reintegrate himself into the clan—specifically his House Warp? That’s crazy,” Alex replied. ”He’s always been a hall master to me—ever since I was a boy. It’s going to be hard to think of him as anything else.” Alex let out a sigh and shook his head. ”So, do you cause a big commotion and change everywhere you go, or just here?”

”Uh...” Derek rubbed the back of his neck in embarrassment. He didn’t cause too much change back on Earth because he mostly kept to himself, but if he thought about Cydaria and the other countries and continent around it, he’d certainly been a big catalyst for change. ”Well, I don’t exactly try to cause such big commotions. It just... happens,” he explained. ”I was even trying to be low-key while here. It’s not my fault your family has a couple of old monsters with stupid deduction skills.”

”Mhm...” Alex nodded, then frowned. ”Wait, are you talking about the patriarch? What did he find out?”

”Nothing to be concerned about,” Derek waved Alex off. ”Just that I’m from another system.” Alex already knew that, too. He just didn’t know all the other details that he’d told the patriarch.

”Oh,” Alex said with a nod. ”Yeah. I can see that being pretty easy to figure out. It’s rare, but not that rare.”

”Yeah...” Derek replied. ”Anyway, Sheen said that he would be by your residence in the morning to pick me up and help see me on my way to Origin City. He just has to rest up after fighting your vice patriarch. I guess the vice patriarch has some pretty strong soul-damaging skills that Sheen needs a bit to recover from.”

”So all the travel restrictions are going to be lifted by then?” Alex asked.

”Sheen seemed to think so, and the patriarch didn’t disagree, so hopefully there won’t be any more problems,” Derek said. He really needed to get to Origin City so he could figure out his next steps to take in the Origin System after meeting Dave and getting proper information and hopefully some ideas.

”That’s good,” Alex said, but he also looked a bit sad. He’d made it known that he wanted to go with Derek and the others, so he was certainly thinking about what he was going to do once everyone left as well. ”Should we get back to the house?”

”Yeah,” Derek replied. ”I’ve had more than enough excitement for the day. And a bunch of those people over there don’t look too friendly, either.” He pointed at the spot where more people had gathered after the elders had all disappeared.

”Garrett has a lot of followers over there,” Alex said.

”He used to have a lot of followers over there,” Derek corrected as he started walking in their direction. He didn’t walk that way to prove a point. It was just the way they had taken to arrive, so it was the only way Derek knew to leave. ”They’re going to have to find someone else to latch onto now.”

Derek and Alex made it to the crowd, then kept walking. The group of people parted for them like water, and other than a handful of sneers and hostile looks, most people yelled out questions about what happened with Garrett. However, after a few seconds, Derek got tired of it and pulled the VIP badge back out of his storage bracelet and reequipped it to his shoulder.

Since all the people there were followers and minions, once the badge came out, things went quiet. Not everyone was there at the beginning, and most had only seen Derek after he’d removed the badge and clothing before the fight. However, now that he was displaying it, some ran, most of the sneers disappeared, and there were even a handful of apologies shouted out at him.

Derek rolled his eyes and shook his head. It was amazing how a slight show of position was enough for so many people to change their tune. I bet this is one of those things that Sheen is going to work on as soon as he gets a chance. He was pretty vocal about parasitic followers.

Soon enough, they made it through the group. After walking a short while with Alex, Derek paused and looked behind them. Out of all the people who had been gathered around, only one person had broken off from that group and followed behind Derek and Alex. Derek frowned and looked at the person. It was a young girl, and she seemed more sad than anything else.

”Can I help you?” Derek asked the girl.

”Where is my brother?” the girl asked. She held Derek’s gaze with her own and didn’t look away. ”What happened to Garrett? They took him up, but he never came back down.”

”Oh...” Derek winced. He suddenly felt a little bad about the punishment—not for Garrett, but for the young girl. ”Garrett... he should be back at your home if you live together. He’s being sent away for a few years. If you run now, you should be able to catch him.”

”Just sent away? Only for a few years?” The girl let out a sigh of relief. She straightened her back and then nodded. ”You get ready. I’ll be the one to beat you for my brother the next time we meet!” she shouted, her cheeks turning red in the exchange. ”Just... wait a few years first!”

”Okay,” Derek said with an awkward smile. ”I’ll look forward to it.”

With that, the girl ducked her head, did a 180, and started running as fast as she could.

”Looks like you’ve got a new rival,” Alex said with a chuckle. ”I think she is more talented than her brother. You may end up having to take that one seriously.”

”I pick one up everywhere it goes, it seems,” Derek replied. ”They usually become pretty good friends,” he said. He was thinking about Jace, Edgar, and even Avery. Though, as of right now, only Jace and maybe Alanah were the ones who could keep up. In the end, he shrugged and thought about the girl who had just challenged him. ”People seem far less angry about the fact that he’s going away for ten years than I thought they would be.”

”That’s because they know the alternative,” Alex replied with a shrug. ”He’s not dying. It’s only ten years. We have vacations that last longer than that in the clan. So, after it is all said and done, Garrett is getting a slap on the wrist for showing extreme disrespect to an honored guest and an elder of the clan.”

”Ah... gotcha,” Derek replied as they reached the gates to Alex’s residence once again. ”We’re here,” he said. ”Hey, does your library have any books I can check out about skill progression and stuff? Ones that are easy to get and that I could look over tonight before I leave?”

”We have some,” Alex said. ”Let’s go inside, and I’ll see what I can find. There won’t be any that work with your particular types of skills, but I may be able to find some that draw parallels.” Finally, they walked up to the gate. The guards greeted them, and then they went inside.