System Change

Walter Gracefall was the leader of House Gracefall. His house had fallen when he was just a boy, and he had been fighting to earn back the prestige of his house ever since. Through his life, he had travelled the kingdom and even became quite powerful. However, power was not enough to wash away the shame of his house. If someone were to ask him what he lacked, he would immediately answer, ‘luck.’

Now, his luck was not terrible. It was enough to keep him alive in sticky situations, but what he needed to bring back honor to his house was to do more than just stay alive. He needed to be in the right place at the right time to obtain glory. The man was 167 years old this year, and though the amount of glory he brought to his house was much more than an average noble, it just was not enough to return to honor. However, the King had taken notice of his efforts and perhaps his eldest son, Jenson, would be able to return them to House Searidge before he passed.

Currently, Walter was sitting at his desk listening to his most trusted aid, Bronson, report to him on various shocking events. Previously, when Bronson had given him a quick summary of the events, he was already quite shocked, but now, after learning all the details, he was just trying to do his best to not appear completely flabbergasted.

Finally, Bronson finished with the full report on what happened after they entered the city. The room was quiet for a while before Walter finally broke the silence. “So, Derek is well on his way to becoming a Crown member after only being in the city for less than one day. Not to mention that they way he is doing it is by selling a Void Beast and some type of beverage.” Walter shook his head. “Less than one day and already two contracts with the Crown.” He muttered. He could only wish he had this kind of luck.

“Well, the contract for the beast is not completed yet.” Bronson said.

Walter nodded. “It is as good as done, though.” The man sighed. “The most pressing matter is figuring out what to do with the dungeon. Let me see the specimen you obtained.”

Bronson nodded and stood. Then, he walked to an open area of the room and waved his hand. The Ghoul he brought with him soon appeared on the floor.

Walter stood and walked over to the dead creature. He began his examination. He frowned. “Did you have to crush the head?”

Bronson nodded. “It is an undying creature. It kept struggling until I did so.”

Walter frowned, but continued on. He lifted the long pale arm of the creature up, focusing his attention on the sharp nails on its hand. “Hmm… Toxic, huh?” He took his hand and ran the top of it under one of the fingernails. He pushed a bit harder until the nail penetrated his skin.

Bronson, to the side, let out a cry. “Sir!”

Walter motioned to him that he was fine. The toxin was not as strong as it would have been if the creature was still alive, as it was unable to draw on the creature’s mana. Walter dropped the arm to the ground then watched the back of his hand. The toxin slowly worked its way from the top of his hand into his bloodstream. He turned his hand over and focused on the veins in his wrist. The raised, but almost colorless veins on his arm began turning darker and darker at a visible pace.

Walter closed his eyes and watched his health pool slowly deteriorate. The longer the toxin was in his system, the faster it spread, and the faster his health drained. Walter shook his head and released a breath. Then, he placed his other palm on top of his hand and used a healing spell. It took multiple casts before the toxin disappeared and he stood. He motioned for Bronson to take the creature back, then walked back over to his desk to sit.

Bronson stored the corpse and returned to his chair across from Walter. “Sir, did you learn anything.”

Walter looked up at Bronson with a serious expression on his face. “I did. We are not going to send anyone to this dungeon. You are to inform the Adventurer’s Guild of the dungeon, and also show them the rewards. Use the excuse that we are mourning the loss of Wallace, if the Adventure’s Guild asks for the reason we are spreading the news, they will ask. A house cannot keep a dungeon to themselves and prevent others from entering, but they can choose to keep what they know of it private.”

Bronson nodded gravely. “Sir, why are we not taking the chance to obtain dungeon rewards before other houses?”

Walter stared directly into the eyes of Bronson. “Because whoever we send will die. Just based on one monster that escaped, even if it was 20 levels above the dungeon itself, its toxic ability, after its death mind you, was enough to even astound me. You can consider this dungeon an ‘Elite’ dungeon. The group that goes in should all be as close to level 100 as possible, and their class should be a rare class. I don’t even believe that those who got uncommon classes from the start will be safe.”

Bronson only nodded at what was said. “So, Wallace definitely did not complete the dungeon.”

Walter shook his head. “It would be impossible. Unless that creature you brought with you is the dungeon boss or at the very least few in numbers, there would be no way for them to complete it. Of course, if that happens to be the case, we still won’t lose much. If others complete it easily, we can send people all the same.”

“Should we warn others of your suspicion?” Bronson asked.

“No. They can find out the hard way. There are no nobles in Torith that would believe the words of a broken Noble House, anyway.” The older man said. “As for Derek, I would like to meet him at his earliest convenience. From what you have said, he does not sound like a bad person, just a bit arrogant. I am interested in why he is trying to make such a reputation so quickly, though.”

Bronson nodded. “I will let him know. He should be training with the guards right now.”

“Oh?” Walter was surprised. “Why would someone like him train with the guards?”

Bronson shook his head. “I do not know. He suddenly asked about some magic spells and said he wanted to train with some of the guards that had the spells.”

“What spell?”

“Geyser.” Bronson replied.

Walter thought about what the man would want with that specific spell, but could not think of anything. He shook his head, putting the odd behaviour out of his mind. “You are dismissed. Allow Derek to train, head to the Adventurer’s Guild first.”

Bronson stood. “Sir!” He saluted. Then he turned and began to walk out of the room.

“Oh.” Walter said, causing Bronson to stop moving. “Do tell the Adventurer’s Guild that the village is under my protection. Not House Gracefall’s protection, but MY protection, got it?”

Bronson widened his eyes. “Yes, sir!” He left.

The study returned to silence. Walter sat in the quiet, thinking to himself, trying to work through everything that he learned and make the correct decision about it.

He was saddened by the loss of his youngest. Yes, he blamed Derek, but not as much as one would think. He mostly blamed himself for allowing Wallace to run amuck. There were many times he could have, should have, disciplined him, but he chose to allow the behaviour to continue until it was too late.

No, the more he thought about it, the less anger he felt towards Derek. He had expected something like this to happen and was actually surprised Wallace was able to live as long as he did.

Even if he was more angry at Derek than he was, there was no way he would do anything about it currently. Doing everything he could for House Gracefall, had instilled in him patience and rationale.

The man had killed his son, his failure, but also allowed for his death to bring glory and honor to the house. It would bring more glory and honor than Walter suspected the boy would have obtained in his lifetime. This was something Walter could accept. In fact, Wallace would have most likely lost honor and brought more shame to his house.

Derek… This man is a mystery wrapped in an enigma. Walter actually let a smile form on his face at that thought. Enigma was the Award that Derek told Bronson about. Bronson then told Walter. What a suitable Award for the man to obtain.

Walter was already looking forward to meeting the man who killed his son, brought House Gracefall honor, and achieved a reputation with the Crown on his first day in the city. He had not been this excited since he received the parchment from the King, allowing Jenson to go to the Capital for training.

Still, something bugged him in the back of his mind. Just what could the man be doing with the guard?

***

At this time, Derek was in an open room inside the barracks. There were three men and a woman with him, all guards sent by Bronson. The four guards talked in hushed tones, wondering what was going on, what kind of training they were to undergo. Derek finally spoke. “Today, you are going to help me take a shower.”