System Change

With Silvi and his new temporary status sheet taken care of, Derek turned his attention to the final notification from the Origin System that he had waiting for him.

…

Congratulations!

New Title Unlocked!

User cannot currently receive Titles.

Would you like to ascend to receive Title?

…

Derek snorted at the notification and dismissed it. It was just another Title waiting for him for whenever he finally accepted the ascension. At the moment, those Titles were useless to him. Sure, they would definitely come in handy once he could actually use them, but until then, it was better for him to act like they weren’t even there.

With that notification, and all the others, out of his way, Derek breathed a sigh of relief. It was like a massive weight that he hadn’t even known he had been carrying had been lifted from him. Whew… he sighed again. I didn’t know how much stress that second requirement was actually causing me.

Honestly, with that out of the way, and with all his friends set up to live good, if not great, lives—at least, depending on his ability to take others with him—he wouldn’t have to worry about them in the future once he was gone. He’d been working toward that goal for a long time now, and he felt that it was something he’d finally reached.Once he completed the favor that Dave had asked of him, he would be able to ascend with no regret. However, he did still have a favor to take care of, and he wouldn’t know much more until the Universal System arrived and caused whatever it was that happened when two systems collided. Until then, all he had left to do was prepare for that to happen.

Derek spent the time left until the meeting relaxing. Since it was scheduled for the next morning, he and Silvi went back home, and he spent the night in his own bed, recovering from whatever remaining mental strain that hadn’t been knocked out by the last time he slept. When he woke up, he felt better than he’d felt in a while, and that’s saying something considering how he never physically felt bad after gaining a certain amount of stat points in endurance.

It just reinforced to him that no matter how high his level was, stress and anxiety seemed to be a constant that couldn’t be eliminated by just stats alone. But that’s good, he thought as he dressed in his normal clothing. Without some stress and anxiety, I wouldn’t feel like myself. He shrugged as he looked himself over in a mirror.

He certainly didn’t hate the changes that the system had caused in his looks. The black hair with a purple tint to it was a nice touch, and the deep purple irises that stared back at him were striking. It had been a long time since he bothered to look himself over, and he liked what he was seeing. Am I… even an inch or two taller than I was before the system came?

He looked down at his jeans and couldn’t really tell if they seemed any shorter on him than they used to, so he just shrugged it off. It didn’t actually matter. Most likely, he just had better posture because of all his stats.

With all that out of his mind, he headed downstairs to his sitting room. It was only a few hours until the scheduled meeting, and to make everything convenient—to him—it was going to be at his shop.

The first person to arrive was, surprisingly, Braxton.

“You have a very nice place here in Savannah,” Braxton said as he looked around the sitting room. Then, his eyes settled on a chair that wasn’t too far away from Derek, and he walked over and hopped up onto it. He pulled the lever at the side, and the footrest sprang up, allowing his short legs a place to rest. “These are very nice,” he said as he summoned a jug of some brew out of his storage ring and began drinking.

“I like it,” Derek said. “Also, do you ever not drink?” he asked.

“Me? Not drink?” Braxton asked with wide eyes. “Now that is a very rude question to ask a dwarf. That’s like asking an elf not to stare into a mirror any chance they get… or to chop down a tree.”

Derek scratched the back of his neck in embarrassment. He’d stared at himself in a mirror just that morning. Derek shook his head, then opened his mouth to say something, but someone spoke before he was able to.

“I resent that, dwarf,” the voice said as an elf walked through the door.

Derek’s eyes met Osian’s, and they nodded at one another.

“Oh, if it isn’t the big bad elf who no longer has free will,” Braxton said. “What’s that like? You know, working for a king you could crush with a sneeze?” Braxton certainly wasn’t someone to mince words. Obviously, he was talking about Osian’s relationship with Edward.

A case of theft: this story is not rightfully on Amazon; if you spot it, report the violation.

“The contracts and oaths are more than fair,” Osian said as he, too, took a seat. “In fact, it seems as though the kingdom is in a new age of prosperity.”

“Sure it is,” Braxton said. “You can tell yourself whatever you want if it lets you cope with your loss better.”

“You jest, Braxus. Do you not also serve a king whom you could crush if you so wish?” Osian said. “Are you not stronger than your own brother?”

“I am stronger,” Braxton said. “And my brother cannot command me to do something. He asks. He does not command. And, if I’m feeling up to it, I do it.”

“And how often have you actually declined?” Osian asked with a knowing smile.

“I don’t know… at least a few dozen times,” Braxton said. “I don’t really keep count.”

“You are serious?” Osian looked at Braxton with wide eyes. “You actually refuse your king?”

“Like I said,” Braxton said. “Nobody can make me do something I don’t want to… and my brother provides a very good brew…” he then eyed Derek. “Well… almost nobody, but I don’t think my friend there is going to force me to do anything. He’s too good of a drinking partner to be that kind of person.”

“What about that dangerous elf?” Osian asked. “Do you not do what he asks?”

“Oh, you know about my other job?”

“Of course I know… Braxton…” Osian said. “Every noble from Indria knows of Evandel, and, of course, I and a select few of the royal family know that he is still alive and is the newest Nyx. It is my job as king to know what goes on in my kingdom—even if it is unsanctioned assassination attempts—especially if a former citizen of my kingdom becomes the head of an assassin organization.”

“The hubris of a king is always quite entertaining to listen to,” a man in a dull gray robe, wearing a white stone mask, walked through the door next. “You know what I allow you to know, young man.” A light, eerie chuckle came from the man. “The same was true of your predecessor, too. So, there is no need to feel down about it.”

“I was wondering if you were ever going to come inside,” Braxton said as he took a gulp of his brew. “Thought you were just going to stand out there all day.”

“The conversation was entertaining,” Nyx said. “But when one’s old name is brought up… what else am I to do?”

Osian’s eyes went wide, and he looked at Derek in horror.

“Hey, Nyx,” Derek said. “I didn’t know you would be coming today.”

“Something like this,” Nyx said. “I wouldn’t miss it… not to mention, there is that person I must speak with while I am here in Savannah today. The… Geoffrey Tate of Alabaster Homes, if my memory serves me correctly.”

“Yup,” Derek said. “If you’re looking for some comfortable furniture, Geoffrey’s your guy. Once the meeting is over, I’ll let him know that you’re coming.”

“No need for that,” Nyx said with a wave of his hand. “I enjoy meeting people without introductions first. You can learn a lot about a person by doing so.”

“They usually just attack me…” Derek muttered.

The king continued to stare at Nyx, then Braxton, then Derek. His eyes shifted between the three of them multiple times before he let out a large sigh and shook his head. He muttered to himself something that Derek didn’t quite catch, then just sat silently. It seemed that all it took for the dwarf and elf to stop taking verbal jabs at each other was Nyx’s arrival.

Derek didn’t actually know who all was supposed to come to the meeting. When he had given information about the meeting to Edgar, he’d left the guest list up to him. Surely, Edgar would know who was important enough to invite. So far, the guest list did not disappoint. Two heads of the Assassin’s Guild and the king of a kingdom were already there. He couldn’t wait to see who else was on their way.

After a long silence, Braxton prodded Osian, and their verbal back-and-forth began again. Derek chuckled, and the masked figure of Nyx slowly shook his head. While the dwarven duke and the King of Indria made verbal jabs at one another, Derek just sat back and watched… and waited for the others to arrive. Soon, Avery walked in.

“It seems that I am late,” the archer said.

“I’d say so,” Derek replied. “You’re here after three leaders of their respective organizations or countries came. That has to be some sort of record for being tardy.”

“I was busy doing something important,” Avery said as he looked up at the three leaders—two of whom were still bickering. “Seemingly more important than those two.”

“What was going on?” Derek asked. “Anything I can help with?”

“Children’s training,” Avery said. “And you are always welcome to come and scare them with your aura.”

“Oh, I may have to take you up on that,” Derek said, then also looked over at Braxton and Osian. “That is clearly more important than whatever those two were doing.” And it was… probably. He wasn’t sure what Osian would have been doing at the moment, but he was at least sure that it was more important than what Braxton was doing… which would have clearly been drinking.

Edgar and Vanessa walked in next. Apparently, they weren’t even trying to hide whatever their relationship was anymore. They were even friendlier with each other than they had been before. Not long after those two took their seats, Natalie Savannah stepped inside. She was another person Derek was surprised to see, but they were in her city, after all.

“Wow…” the woman characteristically muttered as her slightly glowing eyes fell on Derek. “What have you been doing since the last time we met?” she asked as she came over and took the closest seat to Derek.

“That’s kind of rude, you know?” Derek joked with the scholarly woman.

“It is a habit,” Natalie replied. “I did not get a good look at you during Alanah’s going-away. Were you the same then as you are now?”

“I was not,” Derek said. “I was still strong, but definitely not the ‘same.’” A lot had changed since then. He had no clue how Natalie’s eyes would perceive Derek as he currently was.

“Your aura is so deep now,” she said. “And… give me your hand…” The woman reached out.

Derek shrugged and placed his hand in Natalie’s own. After that, she gripped him tightly and stared into his eyes—her eyes burning like a gray fire. The glow increased and increased, then… Natalie let out a long sigh.

“You have completely outgrown my capabilities,” Natalie said. “You are the first to do so. I can no longer see anything when I look into you—just a dreadful… purple. Congratulations on reaching such heights.”

“Thanks… I think,” Derek said. Then he looked around at everyone in the room. Finally, he turned to Edgar. “Is this everyone? Tyron? Shaemus? Are they going to come, too?”

“No,” Edgar said. “They are both already hard at work.” Then he also looked around the room. “This looks like everyone. Would you like to bring in Malorie as well?”

“I can always fill her in at any time,” Derek said. “I’d like to have Marrick here, but he’s on vacation and I don’t want to disturb him until I have to.” There was also always the possibility that the old elf would be running a dungeon that Derek should avoid.

“In that case,” Edgar said. “Where should we begin?”