System Change

Derek sat in the dimly lit room with Silvi for a while after Dave vanished. While Silvi finished the string of foods that Dave had quietly sat out in front of her while they were speaking, Derek sat leaned back in the extremely comfortable chair, lost in thought.

He hadn’t expected to hear any of what he had from Dave. It had never even crossed his mind that the other system would be able to find its way there. Nor had he even thought about it wanting to find its way there. Yeah, he figured that not all the systems were really compatible with each other—based on his new one suppressing the old one, yet the new one reaching out for assistance when needed—but he would have never dreamed that his old one would come hunting the new one.

It definitely seemed like the Universal System was hunting the Davenresh System, too. Derek was the catalyst, but the system wasn’t actually hunting him.

Also, it may not even know where I am at all anymore, Derek thought to himself. Dave had told him that there was a chance that his link to it was broken by the Origin System, or possibly even by his use of Void Travel. Is there a way to even find out? He wondered. And will I really be hunted if I go to Earth? I was originally a part of that system, after all. Maybe… if the link isn’t actually broken… I really won’t have anything to worry about.

Still, based on everything that Dave said, if we’re going to go to Earth, it has to be soon, Derek thought. Also… Derek stood from his chair, then put his hand on it. After that, he tried to store it in his storage bracelet. “Dammit,” he muttered before sitting back down. Of course, he’s not going to let me take the chair. It was worth a shot, though. Derek sighed.

I wonder if the time is slowed in here like it was last time, Derek thought. He may have only done that last time because of all the people that we came out of the dungeon with. A lot of different thoughts passed through Derek’s head as he watched Silvi dine. Some were important, some weren’t.

If system users end up having to fight each other, I’m pretty sure I don’t have to worry about running into anyone from Earth. At least, I doubt I do. So many people are a part of that system, and Earth is still a baby in terms of how long it’s been introduced into it. I can only think of a few people who may be strong enough to join an invasion like the one I’m thinking about. Derek scratched his chin and sighed. But, if it’s just a fight between users, won’t Davenresh System have an advantage? Or, will there not be a limit on the amount of people who can invade?

If there was a limit, then Derek had no doubt that the strong users from the Davenresh System would practically dominate. Sure, he could believe that, due to there being so many users in the Universal System, there may be a few extremely strong outliers, but he couldn’t imagine those outliers being as strong as someone like Marrick. Maybe Avery or Edgar before all the extra stats that they’ve acquired recently? Avery already had an Epic class with stats of a Legendary one before he upgraded.

Dave said that the Universal System can support up to Legendary classes, but the Davenresh System can support Mythical classes. However, it also seems that it is near impossible to reach Mythical ranked classes here. I wonder if it’s as hard to reach Legendary status there as it is to reach Mythical here.

Also, Derek continued to run through everything in his head. What about advancing? The way it sounded, different systems have different requirements for advancement. Well… I guess I already knew that based on the fact that mine are different from Alanah’s. But what about the Universal System? Are they easier? Damn… Derek thought. I should have thought of that and tried to slip the question in while he was sharing. Derek clicked his tongue and cleared those thoughts from his head.

There has to be something else to it. He focused back on the possible invasion. If there isn’t a limit on the number of users who can invade, though… I can definitely see that being bad. I doubt Silvi and I would be able to take out a hundred Averys all at once. That could be bad. Though, I don’t doubt for a second that we could escape and pick them off one by one… Derek furrowed his brow at the thought. Is that why Dave is putting so much faith in me?

Derek’s unique set of skills would allow him to escape pretty much anything, and he and Silvi would be monsters if things came to guerrilla warfare. It would be slow going, but I don’t have the same limits as everyone else. As long as I finish before I ‘have’ to advance… hmm… yeah… I can see that being the reason why Dave has so much faith in me.

Derek summoned Harbinger and laid it across the chair, over his lap. With both hands, he reached out and grabbed the glaive by its haft. Then he squeezed. If Legendary classes there are as hard to come by as Mythical classes here… I doubt there’s anything out there with the quality of Harbinger. He then looked down at the armor he was wearing. Same for the armor made by Tyron.

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At that thought, Derek’s eyes widened. We have to get Edgar and the others better gear. There are plenty of dragonkin materials… Brandi’s not going to like it, but she doesn’t currently have the skills that Tyron has. Fuck… what about Vallum? Tyron is great for weapons, but what about armor? Wouldn’t it be better to find a skilled armorsmith from there? Ugh… there’s not enough time.

Derek was already thinking of forgoing his trip to the dwarven kingdom before advancing, but he wasn’t sure now. Currently, he was cursing Dave for not warning him about everything sooner. Though, he did seem to be pushing it just by telling me what he did. He may not have been able to do it sooner. Can I even tell anyone what I’ve learned? Derek had the feeling that the answer to that question was a resounding ‘no.’

I might not be able to tell them, but I can at least make preparations, he thought, then jumped up from his seat and put Harbinger away. “Silvi!” he said with a hurried voice.

“What?” she asked through her communication crystal.

“Hurry up, or store it,” he said. “There are some things we need to do fast.”

“I tried…” Silvi pouted.

“Tried?” Derek asked. “Tried what?”

“Storing the food… before tasty-looking elf left,” she said.

“Oh… that’s why you were so worried about the food,” Derek said. “Because you knew you couldn’t take it with you.”

“Yes!” Silvi said as she continued to eat. “And so hard to eat… hard to hurry.”

“What?” Derek asked. “It’s hard to eat?”

“Yes!”

“Let me see,” Derek said and reached his hand out. He pinched a piece of a pastry off and put it in his mouth. The taste was divine. However, as he swallowed, he felt his body fill with energy, and his stomach felt fuller than it had after the dragon meal that Silvi had made them.

“What the—” he muttered as he looked at his status sheet. Just to see, Derek threw out a Spatial Collapse into a safe spot in the air. The amount of mana that it took away was replenished near instantaneously after he used the skill. “So much recovery in the food,” he said.

It’s no wonder Silvi was so quiet and preoccupied the entire time Dave was here, Derek thought as he reached out and grabbed a bite of her cake. Again, the taste was otherworldly, and this time, his muscles tensed and he felt an entirely different kind of energy go through his body. The last was mana… this one is stamina. He really hated that they weren’t able to take the food with them.

If I had these in a critical situation… they would be invaluable, Derek tsk’d.

“I can’t…” Silvi finally said in a very sad tone. “Too full. Can’t eat another bite. Dammit!”

“Well…” Derek said. “We can’t wait until you can. And I can already tell that the fullness is going to last for a very long time. Especially based on how much you ate.” He looked at the half-eaten food on the table in front of Silvi. How the hell did she even manage to eat that much? Derek felt like he would be pushing it just by eating another bit or two of the stuff. Yet Silvi had already eaten her own weight in desserts, and then some.

Derek reached forward and grabbed another dessert he hadn’t tried. This time, after swallowing it, he felt his blood boil. Obviously, it greatly increased his health regeneration. He sighed. “It really is a shame.”

“Huge shame!” Silvi agreed.

“Can’t take the chair… can’t take the food…” Derek shook his head. “Oh well…” he said. “Silvi, we need to go. I’m sure you’ll be able to make something just as good as this one day, but first, we have to get through whatever is coming.”

“Fine…” Silvi finally said after trying to take another bite of the cake, but having to spit it out. “I think… I’ll explode if I eat,” she said.

“Yeah… haha,” Derek said.

“Seriously!” Silvi said, as she slowly raised herself up. “Can barely move,” she said, struggling to sit upright.

“Oh…” Derek replied, then reached out and picked her up—setting her on his shoulder like usual. She wasn’t really heavy, but Derek was surprised at how firm she felt. He couldn’t see it by looking at her, but none of her body had any give. “You really did almost gorge yourself to death.”

“Mhm…” Silvi replied.

“I wonder how long this is going to last,” Derek thought out loud. “I guess it doesn’t matter,” he said. “We need to go make arrangements, the visit Earth… how do we leave?”

“Dunno,” Silvi said.

Just as Derek was thinking about using Void Travel, all the sudden, they were hit by a bright light, then, the next thing he knew, he was standing outside the dungeon once again. “I guess that’s how,” he said. “Okay, we have to go see Tyron,” Derek said before using Void Travel.

“Hold on…” Silvi said. She sounded pretty tired. A few moments later, a relatively small pot with a lid on it appeared on the ground in front of them. Slowly, the lid slid off, then the weight of Silvi left Derek’s shoulders. “Carry,” Silvi said after landing in the pot and slowly pulling the lid on. “Lock!” she said from inside the pot—her voice muffled from the lid being on.

“Okay,” Derek chuckled as he bent down and latched the lid onto the pot on both sides. This way, the void wouldn’t be able to get in, and Silvi would only have to focus her attention on keeping her Void Creation (Cooking) skill active. I could have just covered her in a thin sheet of void, Derek thought, but didn’t say anything. This was probably easier for her, anyway. He could imagine that maintaining the pot would be easier on her in her current state than balancing on his shoulder.

Derek, still bent down, grabbed the pot—which was only a little bigger than Silvi was—and cradled it in his arm. With his other hand, he used Void Travel and ripped the space in front of him open. Next, he stepped in and closed the space behind him before looking for Tyron.

Derek found the aura and took a step towards it. Seconds later, he was just over top of it. I hope he’s not in the middle of anything important, he thought as he reached out and stuck his hand through the void. Things had been set into motion, and they needed to make preparations.