System Change

“How are you still alive?” Derek asked.

Jacks snorted, face still tinged red in anger. “That’s because I did my best.”

Derek gave the man a sideways glance. “What do you mean?”

“After my son was… found.” He grit his teeth on the word. “I had to sign the contract and make an oath. Fortunately, in my position at least, I had some wiggle room. I immediately rejected their first contract, which would have resulted in my death if Malcolm Torith ever died.”

Derek nodded along with the man’s explanation.

“After some back and forth, we were able to come to an agreement. Mind you, it was still a pretty bad contract for me, but I was indebted to the man for finding my son, so I wasn’t about to back out after a promise.” The former Guard Captain sighed.

“So, what did you end up agreeing to? If you don’t mind telling me.” Derek asked.

Jacks smirked, which looked frightening with the scar on his face. “Oh, I don’t mind telling you. If not for you, I would have never been able to ‘complete’ the contract.” He almost laughed, but was still upset after learning about what really happened.

“You see. I signed and swore to protect Malcolm Torith to the best of my ability.” He finally laughed. “When you said that you were for sure going to kill the man, it fulfilled the condition that he needed protection. It also gave me hope that you would kill the bastard before I regained consciousness. If I would have woken up before you took care of him, I don’t know if the contract would have still been completed. Fortunately, you kept your word and finished him off before you woke me.”

“You also allowed me the time to power up and prepare my most powerful attack. Thanks for that, by the way.” Jacks nodded to Derek. “Therefore, I did my all to protect Malcolm to the best of my ability. I honestly didn’t expect you to be able to take that attack so easily, though. You seem… stronger now than when I first met you.”

“I am.” Derek confirmed.

Jacks furrowed his brows in confusion but didn’t ask any questions. “Now, everything was all guesswork until it happened, and I didn’t die. I still have access to the Great System, and the contract is gone as well. And, since the contract is gone, and the oath was tied to the contract… it’s gone as well.”

“That’s good.”

Jacks nodded. “Yeah, the way I saw it, there were four possible outcomes. The most likely outcome was that I did it, then ended up dying when Malcolm died. Then there was you just killing me… I’m glad that didn’t happen. Followed by the plan working. Malcolm dying and me still being alive.”

“What was the fourth?” Derek asked.

“Well…” The man smiled oddly at Derek. “The fourth outcome is that everything worked, and you still kill me. I’m still figuring out whether that’s going to happen or not.”

Derek chuckled. “It’s not.”

“That’s a relief.” Jacks replied.

“By the way, you’re a lot more talkative now than you were before.” Derek pointed out.

Jacks scoffed. “You wouldn’t talk much either if you had to be around those assholes…” He pointed at the quivering Clay. “All day, and you weren’t able to take any actions against them without killing yourself.”

“I guess not.” Derek responded. “So, what are you going to do now?”

Jacks let out a breath. “I don’t know. I never thought I was going to get my freedom back. I thought that getting my son back and sending him to the Academy was going to be the last decent thing I did in my life. At some point, I am going to find him. There’s no telling where he’s currently stationed.”

Derek nodded. “I’m sure he’ll be happy to see you.” Derek said. “Were you serious about working with me?” At this point in the conversation, the two had dropped all formalities and were speaking with each other casually.

“If you’ll have me.” Jacks replied. “Of course, I’m not signing some soul sucking contract again. If need be, I could sign a basic contract or something like that. I’ll also need to know exactly what I’ll be doing. From what I’ve seen about you, you don’t seem like a person who’ll require me to do awful things, but I was fooled once in some respects. Though, never once did I think Gerald Torith was a ‘good’ person.”

“I’m sure I could find a spot for you. We’ll be heading to Savannah soon. The more strength, the better… especially if you prove trustworthy. We’ll work out the details later.” Derek explained.

Jacks nodded, then sighed. “It’s too bad about Bradley. He was a decent fellow.”

Derek had to think back for a minute. The name sounded familiar, but he was having a hard time placing. Finally, he had a realization. That’s the guy that was Clay’s guard. Derek frowned. “Why? What happened.”

“Well, he was one of the few that was able to sign a decent contract with House Torith. I was there when he signed it. There was no death clause, and no oath required. He just had to protect this dipshit for a few more years, or until the noble died.” Jacks explained.

Derek nodded. “That sounds like a good thing to me. If you want, I could just break his contract, here and now.” He pointed at Clay.

Jacks shook his head. “That’s not going to help.”

“What do you mean?”

“Well, the man was punished for ‘allowing’ Clay to get in that mess with your… companion. He was demoted. Unfortunately, because of that demotion, he was near the front of the guards when your…” He gestured towards Silvi. “Attacked.”

Derek could see where this was going. ‘Didn’t we agree to let the ones go that didn’t attack?’ He asked Silvi.

‘I did.’ She replied.

“He must have attacked her. She let all the ones who didn’t attack run away.” Derek explained.

Jacks half smiled. “He did. I saw it. I think it was more of a scared instinct, but he did draw his sword when she appeared by his side.”

Derek sighed. “Can’t do anything about that.”

Jacks nodded. Then he pointed at Clay. “What’s your plan for this little shit? I can’t imagine that he’ll be able to give you more information than you got out of his father.”

Derek shook his head. “No, I doubt he knows anything. Technically, he hasn’t done anything wrong since I gave him a warning, but that’s because he was in a coma. However, there’s no way in hell I let him walk away.”

Derek looked at the trembling noble. “What do you think I should do with you?”

The teen opened his mouth to speak but was unable to summon the courage to say anything. He tried multiple times, but was never able to form any words, not even a stutter.

“That’s what I thought.” Derek said. “Don’t worry. I happen to need a living enemy to help me test something out, and you’ll do just fine.”

“W-w-what i-is it?” The noble managed to mutter.

“Well, let me show you.” Derek replied. He looked over at Jacks. “Jacks, would you mind giving an oath not to reveal anything you’re about to see until I give you the okay? Either that, or you can go on to town and wait for us there.”

Derek watched Jacks’ eyes. He could see him wrestling with the decision to make an oath or not. Derek could understand him, seeing as he had just gotten out of an oath he never thought he would. Fortunately, this was a regular oath to keep a secret, and finally, his curiosity won out.

Jacks sighed. “I’m too interested. What oath do you want me to make? If it’s not too bad, I’ll do it.”

“Like I said, just that you won’t reveal what you’re about to see with anyone until I tell you it’s okay, and that you won’t try to use any information you gain to harm me or my companions.” Derek explained.

Jacks nodded. “Fair enough.” Then, he said the oath exactly as Derek had told him, with no alterations.

Derek waited until he got the confirmation, then nodded. “That will do.”

Then, to Jacks’ surprise, and even Silvi’s, as she wasn’t around when he received his new skill, he gripped the void in front of him, and ripped it to two sides, revealing a door behind. With his right hand, he reached for the handle and pulled. The door swung open, revealing the contents to everybody at once.

Silvi flew in to explore before Derek could say anything. After a few seconds, she landed back on his shoulder, not impressed. ‘It’s empty.’

‘Of course it’s empty. I haven’t had a reason to use it until now, and I just got it.’ Derek replied.

‘You could have at least put a kitchen inside.’ She ranted, but Derek ignored her.

At that moment, Jacks took a step forward to gaze into the darkness. “I-is this space energy? No… that’s not right. I… it feels… different… time? Yes, it feels like time.”

“You know what time energy feels like?” Derek asked.

The man nodded. “I once ran a dungeon with the aspect of time.”

Derek looked at him oddly.

“No, it’s not like you’re thinking. There aren’t any terribly powerful monsters inside. We knew it was a time dungeon when we went inside. It’s a very popular dungeon in another kingdom. It’s popular because there are so many monsters that it takes weeks to complete, but when you come out, only a few hours have passed. The Cydarian Kingdom would kill for a dungeon like it. It makes for a perfect training dungeon.” Jacks explained.

Derek nodded in understanding. He had thought the same about his Time Prison. If he could figure everything out, it may be possible to make it into a great training space as well.

“Well, what are we waiting for?” Derek grabbed the noble by the back of his shirt and pushed him inside the prison. He gave Jacks a smile and followed right behind.