System Change

With the speed at which Lyra was flying, it really didn’t take them all too long to make it back to Savannah. Soon, Derek could see the thriving city slowly growing larger in the distance. Seeing Savannah from such a distance and so far above was an eye opening experience. Even knowing that it wasn’t the largest city, the sheer size was something else.

Everything seemed crammed together with open spaces in the center for all the main buildings. Luckily, in a world full of stats where people could move faster on foot than he would have been able to move in a car, the size and lack of wide roads didn’t matter much to the citizens. Hell, in a merchant city such as Savannah, they didn’t even need wagons because you could bet that those who could afford to do business there would have storage rings.

“You really could spend your entire life walking around a few cities and never see every part of them,” Derek muttered to himself.

“Or just the capital,” Avery heard him and replied.

On top of everything thing else Derek was seeing, there was the miles of expansion the city was currently going through—like in the area where Derek had put his own shop. How much more dense will the city be when all the newly created space is bought and filled in?

Not long later, Lyra slowed her speed as they approached the edge of the city.

“This is close enough for me,” Derek said. “I’ll jump off here. Where do you want to meet up later?”

“Everyone meet at the Crown in… thirty minutes or so… maybe an hour?” Avery asked.

“Sounds good to me,” Derek replied, and Tyron nodded.

“I’ll be going to the capital from here,” Walter spoke up. He didn’t have a part to play in keeping the dragonkin docile. Instead, he looked more anxious than anyone else.

“I’d come help too… but…” Shae started.

“Yeah, we get it,” Avery laughed. “You don’t need to explain it to us.”

“Yeah,” Derek said. “Enjoy the paperwork and the couch.”

Shae winced. “Don’t remind me…”

“Alright, I’m off. I’ll see you two shortly,” he said to Avery and Tyron. “And I’ll talk to the two of you later. I’m looking forward to seeing Clare’s progression. I’ll be sure to drop by the Crown in the capital soon.”

With that, Derek, with Silvi on his shoulder, jumped off of Lyra’s back and kicked the void. “Let’s go,” he told Silvi. With Void Sense pushed as far as it could be pushed, Derek used Active Void Shift and began blinking toward his shop. Since they couldn’t move together, the lazy bunny had to follow behind on her own power. Derek imagined the words she was probably muttering to herself about the injustices of the world.

In seconds, Derek and Silvi avoided the guards and the gate, and passed them by without any of them being any the wiser. Of course, all of them were more focused on the giant winged serpent making its grand entrance to notice Derek and Silvi blinking into the city. I’m sure Natalie won’t mind us skipping the annoying entrance process.

With a few more shifts, Derek was standing before his shop. A couple seconds later, and he felt a small amount of weight land on his shoulder as Silvi too made it back.

Derek smiled as he surveyed his building. Where there wasn’t anything before, now a large sign hung at the front of the shop with the words ‘Void Emporium’ in an almost neon purple lettering. It really would blend in well with the mystical feel of the materials used to build the place.

With a nod, Derek took a step forward, reached out, and pulled the door to the Void Emporium open. Finally, after what seemed like forever, he took a step inside his home.

“Good afternoon, sir! Welcome to the Void Emporium.” a young male voice rang out from the side, behind the counter. “If you are looking for an Elemental Sword, we are unfortunately sold out for the time being. A new batch should be ready in a week, but they won’t last long. Other than that, is there any way I can assist you?”

Derek looked the boy up and down. He didn’t recognize him at all. He had dark brown hair, green eyes, a slightly pudgy face, and looked to be around 16 or 17 years old. Funnily enough, the teen was wearing a nice set of dark purple jeans, a white t-shirt—almost like the shirts that Derek always wore—and a purple vest that matched his pants.

Derek smiled awkwardly at the boy. “Is Malorie around?” he asked.

“I’m sorry, Ms. Fields is currently busy at the moment. Would you like to make an appointment? I believe she has some free time next week.”

About that time, a pattering of footsteps sounded out from behind Derek, and he turned to see another person dressed in the same garb as the teen behind the counter. This time, it was a young girl with her black hair tied up in a bun and dark brown eyes. Looks like they hired some help to run the store once it got up and going. I wonder if these two are orphans like the Runners I met when we first arrived in Savannah.

‘Do you know these two people?’ Derek asked Silvi.

‘Nope,’ she replied nonchalantly.

‘It looks like we’re finally in the process of hiring employees for the business,’ Derek said.

‘That means I can get some… assistants for my kitchen now?’ Silvi said with excitement. ‘Assistants and a taste-tester!’

“Awe! What a cute little bunny!” The girl finally made it to them and spoke. “What’s its name?”

“Her name’s Silvi,” Derek said. “Do you want to hold her?”

Immediately, Silvi hopped off of Derek’s shoulder and into the waiting arms of the young lady. Silvi still very much enjoyed scratches and being pampered by people. Derek really didn’t give her enough attention in that regard.

Derek watched the young lady and Silvi for a moment before turning back to the young man. What am I supposed to do in this situation? Just say, hi, I own this place that you’re working at. Actually… that’s probably what I should do. Luckily, before Derek had to do or say anything, he saw a familiar figure walk through the doors to the back.

I was wondering if it was just these two or if my guard was around. Avery did say that they haven’t been able to leave the city, so I figured he’d be here. The moment Derek’s eyes landed on Jacks, the man also realized who he was looking at. In an instant, Jacks was in front of Derek with a wide smile.

“That took you long enough,” Jacks said. “When did you get back?”

“Hey, I was only going for like a month and a half,” Derek laughed. “Sure, it may have seemed like a year and a half out here, but… who’s counting? Oh, and we got back a couple of hours ago. You can cover a lot of distance when you’re traveling on the back of a winged serpent.”

Of course, Derek, Jacks, and the two employees weren’t the only ones in the shop—there were some other customers browsing the wares. I have to give it to Brandi. If this is all her, she’s done a hell of a job stocking the shop. Sure, not all the items available were of high level, but there was a good amount of diversity around. There was a potion section, weapon section, armor section, and even a regular clothing section—one that had an abundance of t-shirts and jeans.

“I see…” Jacks muttered.

“So, who are the kids?” Derek asked the man.

“These two?” Jacks nodded at the employees, who apparently just realized that Derek was someone important. “That’s Dina and Lance. Malorie hired them a couple weeks ago when she decided the shop was full enough for a grand opening.”

“Damn…” Derek said. “I missed the grand opening of my own shop. Some businessman I am.”

That was enough for it to finally click for the two workers. “Y-you’re Mr. Hunt!” they both half shouted at the same time.

“That’s me,” Derek said.

“Then this…” Dina looked down in horror. It seemed to her that she had gone from holding the most preciously cute animal in the world to a viper waiting to strike, or a bomb about to explode. “She’s that Silvi…” With her body tensed up, Dina mechanically lowered Silvi onto the ground and backed away. “I’m sorry… Ms. Silvi…”

Silvi snorted, then was instantly back to her rightful place atop Derek’s shoulder.

“You two get back to work,” Jacks said to the two stunned employees. “Malorie’s over at Rudy’s place dealing with some contracts. I’m sure they wouldn’t mind if you interrupted.”

Derek nodded, and he was soon led through his own shop by Jacks while leaving the two new workers alone with the other customers. Once they were out of the main shop room, Derek asked, “So, how’s things been running since the shop opened? Has there been any trouble? Any need for you as a guard?”

“Nothing troubling yet. Ms. Savannah runs a pretty tight ship, and you don’t want to be caught causing trouble… especially at a shop with both her and the Crown’s backing.”

“Oh? Their backing? When did that happen?”

“It’s nothing official, but the rumors have already circulated. The Void Emporium is pretty much designated off limits for any untoward antics,” Jacks explained as they stepped through one of the door.

“I see,” Derek said. “And how is everyone else? I’m sure I’ll see them soon, but are they all doing well?”

“Much better than most. With the war going on, the kingdom is pretty tense. Even with Ms. Swan and Prince Edgar taking the fight to the combined army, it will be a while before things settle down. At least here, we don’t have to worry about anything happening—well, at least nowhere near as much as others do. Especially those in the smaller cities and villages,” Jacks explained.

“Hmm…” Derek scratched his chin as he wondered about some of the villagers he met at Thomas’s old village. I wonder if his grandparents are okay. It was another thing he needed to worry about. “Hopefully, the war will end soon.”

“We can only hope,” Jacks said. “There are too many monsters and backstabbing adventurer’s around to have to worry about entire kingdoms as well.”

Finally, Jacks opened the last door separating the Void Emporium part of the shop and Contract’s by Rudy. When the door opened, Derek noticed that there was nobody in the lobby—it actually seemed like the store was closed by the look of the entrance door.

“Is he closed?” Derek asked.

“Yeah,” Jacks replied. “Today’s the day that he and Malorie go over things each week, so he keeps his shop closed for the day. He’s the only contract maker working here, after all.”

“How’s business been doing for him, anyway?” Derek asked.

“His business got a big boost after the auction, then even more when those backing rumors started flying around,” Jacks said. “Really, he’d probably complain and tell you that he’s being worked to death. But truthfully, he’s loving every second of it.”

“Yeah, that sounds about right,” Derek replied. This was perfect. Rudy was one of the first people he wanted to check in with. He needed Bones and Ogre out of his Time Prison and under contract. They’d already sworn their oaths, but they were general oaths.

Jacks took a couple steps forward and raised the counter separating the room in half and walked through. Derek followed along until they were at the door to Rudy’s office. After a couple of loud raps on the door, Jacks opened it and stuck his head in.

“Jacks, is something wrong?” Derek could hear Malorie’s concerned voice coming from behind the door.

At that, Jacks pushed the door the rest of the way open and stepped in. Derek followed behind, and both Malorie’s and Rudy’s eyes quickly found him.

Derek took a step forward and clasped Jacks on the shoulder before giving the two shocked business managers a big grin. “I hope I’m not interrupting anything important. I can come back later if you want.” It was nice being home.