System Change

“Run!” Derek shouted at Leon and Thomas.

Malorie and Brandi had noticed the commotion and had previously been ignoring it to be with Travis. Now, hearing the frantic shout, they looked up to see what was going on. Soon, their vision found Thomas and Leon running towards them.

Leon picked up Travis in an instant. “I’ve got him, we have got to get as far away from here as possible!” The other three did not argue and followed closely behind Leon. Thomas was having a hard time leaving Derek, but Derek had kept him safe, so if he said ‘run,’ Thomas would.

***

Derek watched as Thomas and his companions escaped. Sitting on the ground with blood dripping out of his mouth, he smiled. I can’t believe I bit my fucking tongue. When Derek was first hit, he was extremely worried, but after taking the blow, he realized that this smaller Void Beast was nowhere near as strong as the previous one.

Nowhere near as strong, but still strong enough for him to have to take seriously. The problem is that slap was just a casual wave, like when the one in the void hit me. Though, this one wouldn’t have dented my armor. With these thoughts, Derek stood. Then he touched his bracelet and focused on equipping his armor. Soon, he was dressed from head to toe in a dark metal armor.

Now, battle ready, Derek observed the creature before him. The monster stood a good two-and-a-half meters tall, with dark red eyes promising death. It had fang-like teeth on both the top and bottom parts of its mouth. With those teeth, Derek expected a snout, but its face was more human than canine.

The monster’s arms were long, much longer than a human’s. On the end of both arms and legs were the same razor-like claws. Muscles seemed to be threatening to break out of the beast’s dark grey skin. It was quite a sight to behold.

This fucker definitely never missed a day at the gym. Derek looked down towards his own abdomen in comparison, only seeing the giant dent in his armor left by the other Void Beast. “Looks like I get to take the anger over my armor out on you. That’s good, as your friend helped me out and I don’t really want to fight him.” Yup, that’s why I don’t want to fight him. Not because he’d kill me in one hit, but because he helped me. Derek was almost trying to convince himself.

The Void Beast, hearing Derek talking to it, tilted its head in confusion, almost like it was wondering why the ant it crushed was still alive. Then, as if coming to a decision, it let out a screech and readied itself to charge.

Identify. Derek thought, wanting to get a bit more information before the fight began.

Unknown Entity

Unknown Level

This creature is not of the Great System. Destroy for further information.

Say what now. How the fuck did Leon know it was a Void Beast if the system doesn’t even know? Derek had some questions for Leon later, but now, it was time for a fight.

The beast’s screeching stopped, and it charged. Derek advanced.

They met. Derek’s closed fist was driven into the gut of the beast, while the beast swiped its hand at Derek. The creature clearly was not expecting Derek to be so fast. Its forearm connected with Derek’s side.

Fuck! It’s like punching steel. Derek’s punch had done nothing to the monster. Derek, however, felt like he was inside a bell that had just been rung. While the strike did not harm Derek’s armor much, the impact left Derek’s organs shaken.

Okay, so trading blows with an apparently legendary monster wasn’t the smartest idea. Derek thought as he backed away. He dove in again, this time doing his best to dodge any incoming strikes. He ducked under a strike and delivered a liver blow with his left hand. Other than some pain from his hand, he received no other results.

Dammit, that hurt. This fucker probably doesn’t even have a liver. Derek complained internally. Well, if that’s as fast as this thing moves, I got it beat on speed. Derek had been observing the beast’s actions during their brief encounters, hoping to get a gauge on its strengths and weaknesses.

Derek shot away, out of range of the beast’s next attack. Okay, so it’s strong as shit, and fast to back it up, but slower than me. It has crazy Endurance and possibly Vitality, I can’t even damage it with my Strength. Luckily for me, it doesn’t seem to have any magic, unless it just hasn’t decided it needs to use magic yet. That would be fan-fucking-tastic. Derek summoned his glaive in preparations for his next assault.

Derek moved until his glaive was in range of the monster. The distance happened to be just out of the creature’s long reach. Good. Derek mused. Derek moved clockwise, doing his best to dodge and attack with his glaive. Swipe, dodge, swipe, dodge, this attack pattern continued for a short while.

This isn’t getting me anywhere. Derek was getting tired. The Void Beast was standing still, only using its arms to attack Derek. It was as if Derek was a fly, but the beast did not want to expend the energy to kill it. Derek looked at the results of his work. He had repeatedly sliced at the same spots with his glaive, but other than leaving some marks, he had not even broken the skin of the beast.

Dammit! I can’t get any power behind my attack if I’m worried about dodging all the time. Derek made a decision. He gripped his glaive with both hands, stepped toward the monster, and swung towards its neck with all of his might. He knew a blow was coming from the Void Beast, but he had decided to trade another blow, just to see if he could even break past the monster’s defense.

Derek watched as his blade fell towards the creature’s neck, time seemingly in slow motion. Then, he caught the look on the face of the monster. Is that a smile? Oh, fuck! The thoughts instantly raced through his mind.

The Void Beast moved faster than it had before. With its left hand, it caught the glaive at its blade, chipping it in the process. It pulled, sending Derek flying into its range. The beast’s right arm wrapped around the armored Derek, squeezing. Luckily for Derek, his armor held strong.

Finding that it could not squeeze the human to death, the Void Beast became enraged. Derek was pinned, he could move neither of his arms, and his legs were dangling off the ground. He tried kicking the beast, but he was unable to muster enough force to do any harm. The beast, though intelligent for a monster, had not thought of its next actions.

Finally, much to the dismay of Derek, the Void Beast came to a conclusion. It used its head, literally. It bashed its steel-like head into Derek’s helmet. This time, Derek was the bell being rung. His helmet held, but the impact to his brain worsened with each crash. Derek released the end of the glaive he held, allowing his right hand to be freed. He balled his fist and tried punching the beast in the face. When that failed, he played dirty.

Derek took his thumb and aimed for the opened eye of the beast. He strained, putting in as much effort as he could to gouge the creature’s left eye. The Void Beast screamed in pain and tossed the glaive it was holding. It grabbed hold of Derek’s right arm and drew it away from its eye. It was pissed, it had allowed an ant to injure it.

The head bashing continued, this time fiercer and faster. Derek was on the cusp of losing consciousness. He knew that the moment he blacked out would be the moment he never woke up. He had to come up with an idea, a plan.

The first thing he did was enter Greater Meditation. He had not tried meditating while in a fight, but he was mostly still, so he thought he might have a chance at succeeding. The stars must have aligned because he could sense the recovery effect kicking in. It was repairing the damage to his brain as it happened.

The recovery was great, but it could only just keep up, it could not repair the damage already caused. This at least gave Derek more time to think of a plan. Maybe if I play dead, it will get tired and throw me away. He knew that it would not. He had enraged it, and it would not stop until he was dead.

Derek viewed his Status, focusing on his stat points.

Status

Name

Derek Hunt

Age

29

Level

10

Experience

375/545

Class

Champion of the Void (Epic)

Race

Human (Modified)

Health

4000

Mana

1950

Stamina

4910

Defense

49 (Armor + 135)

Attack

46 (Weapon + 0)

Stats

Strength

343

Dexterity

241

Endurance

491

Vitality

400

Intelligence

203

Wisdom

195

Stat Points Remaining

110

Skills

Channel Void

Level 1

Channel the Void through your body, into attacks or defenses.

Greater Meditation

Level 1

Enter meditative state to increase recovery.

Identify

Level 8

Appraise objects or entities.

Void Call

Level 1

Call out to the Void.

Skill Points Remaining

3

Awards

Giant Slayer

I need more Vitality to help Greater Meditation recover my injuries. Derek grit his teeth and spent 60 of his stat points, putting them into Vitality. He instantly felt his regeneration kick it up a notch. Now, with the help of his increased Vitality, Greater Meditation was able to not only repair the damage he received from each headbutt but also some previously sustained damage.

While recovering, Derek continued to think of a plan. Alright, so I should be good on injuries as long as my helmet can hold out. Derek tried to move around in the monster’s arms. I can move my legs, and my left arm below the elbow. Even if I escape, I still need to be able to either damage him or run away. Derek was still looking at his Status screen.

I don’t think more Strength will help with anything. Derek gazed down and saw his remaining skill points. Ah, that’s an idea. He raised his head and looked for his glave. It was on the ground a few meters away from him. He thought back to all of the training he had done with his glaive while he was in the void. I hope this works.

Derek searched through his skill and stopped on Heavy Weapons Mastery.

Would You Like to Learn Heavy Weapons Mastery?

Yes. Derek thought.

Heavy Weapons Mastery Learned Successfully

Skill Points Remaining: 2

C’mon, do it! Derek waited for the combination message he had gotten for Meditation and Identify. Finally, a message came, but it was not what he expected.

Multiple dormant skills similar to Heavy Weapons Mastery found…

Merging skills…

Skills successfully merged...

Multiple skills? What? Derek went through what he remembered from his previous skills. It must be Heavy Weapons and Glaive Mastery. That’s the only possibility. Then he checked his next message.

Congratulations

Heavy Weapons Mastery skill has reached level 17.

Damn, that’s hard to level up. Derek knew that it leveled quicker when used against an opponent, but he thought that all of that time spent swinging his glaive in the void would have at least earned him an upgraded skill. Oh well, it’s better than nothing. Now to find a way to get free of this fucker.

Derek looked at his Status and his eyes fell on Channel Void. Time to see if this was worth all those skill points.