System Change

It wasn’t lost on Derek that he had just called for a meeting with possibly the world’s strongest fighters—or at least those who held the most power on the continent—and they listened. He’d also dismissed them like he was in charge, and they’d obeyed. I guess that just reinforces the idea that might makes right… he thought as he watched everyone leave the room one by one.

Braxton and Edgar were the first two to leave. They were both heading to their respective smiths to try to provide them with extra support.

“I will see to it that my kingdom is ready for whatever may come,” Osian said as he, too, stood and prepared to leave.

“Good,” Derek said. “I don’t think this is something that we can over-prepare for.”

Osian nodded and even gave Derek a slight bow before he also left the room. After he was gone, Natalie stood up from the chair beside Derek.

“You must stop by for tea sometime,” she said.

“I may do that,” Derek said.

“I’ll look forward to it,” Natalie said. “I’ll also do what I can to bring in and outfit strong mercenaries and adventurers for the city. I know we cannot be certain about what is going to happen—but it seems that you do. So, I will not be caught off guard like last time. If I have time to prepare, I will certainly use it.”

“Thank you,” Derek said.

“It is my city,” the City Lord replied. “I will do what I must to protect it.”“I know,” Derek said. “But most of my friends live here, so by protecting the city, you are protecting them. And I’m not sure if I’ll be able to be here at all times.”

“If things get dire and you are not around,” Natalie began. “Then your friends and family are welcome to come to my manor. It is well equipped with defensive runes and durable building materials—as you have seen. So, it is open for them, and I will do my utmost to keep them safe.”

“I’ll let them know,” Derek said. “Thank you.”

After that, Natalie nodded and then left.

“The Assassin’s Guild will be ready,” Nyx said as he stood. “Just let me know if you need them.” The man walked forward a bit, then turned and said, “Now, I am off to collect a few of these chairs.”

“Tell Geoffrey I said hi once you’re finished testing him,” Derek said. “He comes off as a slimy businessman, but deep… deep… deep down, he’s a good slimy businessman.”

“I will tell him,” Nyx nodded towards Derek, then left.

“So, you’re finally going to be able to go find her,” Avery, who was the last person left in the room with Derek, said.

“Hopefully,” Derek said. “I won’t be going to the same place, but hopefully, my travel skills will still work well. I really can’t say for sure, though. I may be able to find her as soon as I get there, or it may take months or even years. It’s not something I will know until I do it.”

“I’m sure she will be fine until then,” Avery said. “Alanah can take care of herself.”

“That is for damn sure,” Derek said. “I’d hate to be someone who really pisses her off.”

“Heads would roll,” Avery said with a chuckle. “Heads have rolled… I’ve seen it… I’ve done it.”

“I don’t doubt it,” Derek said. “But first, we all have to get through this. The last thing I want to do is tell her when we meet again is that you or Stella died because we weren’t prepared. I don’t know if I could face her if that happened.”

“If the people we are dealing with are as strong as me, then that means I just have to be better,” Avery said as he stood. “If I die, then I wasn’t good enough… that’s that. It won’t be your fault. You’ve warned everyone and gone out of your way to equip us with legendary gear. That’s all you can do.”

“I guess…” Derek said.

Avery walked over and put his hand on Derek’s shoulder. “Now, I have to go beat some sense into some kids. I have to prepare them for the future, which they will most definitely have if we have anything to say about it.”

“You heard Natalie, right?” Derek asked. “When things start happening, you should send them all to her manor. Savannah will most likely be better protected than the capital, as the capital is too big. And with her preparations, it will be heavily defended. So, before you join in, get all the kids there.”

“I will,” Avery said. “I’ll make sure they’re safe, and I’ll also bring Thomas with me if he is at the Academy at the time.”

“Oh… the Academy…” Derek started, but Avery interrupted him.

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“You don’t have to worry,” Avery said. “Edgar and Edward have already shut down any classes outside the city walls. They’re not going to be running any more dungeons until everything is over.”

“I bet they hated that,” Derek said.

“Probably,” Avery replied. “But they don’t get a say in it. It’s their king’s orders, and if they want to stay in the King’s Academy, they must obey. Once the fighting starts, they will understand.”

“That’s good,” Derek said. “And thanks… for worrying about Thomas.”

“He’s a good kid,” Avery said. “He comes by to train when he can and to see his grandparents. In fact, he may be too good for the Academy. It may serve him better to train with Luke, Zach, and Clare full-time. But that is something to think about later.”

“Yeah…” Derek said. He hadn’t brought up the idea of taking people with him when he left yet, and he was almost certain that Thomas would choose to follow along. “We’ll talk about that later.”

“In that case,” Avery said. “I will see you later. If you need anything from me, just let me know, and I’ll see what I can do.”

“Sounds good,” Derek said. “And same… if you need anything.”

Avery nodded, then the archer also left the room, leaving Derek sitting alone. He looked at the door where everyone had left from, then sighed.

Over the next month or so, things were pretty hectic on the continent. Cydaria, Vallum, Indria, and Indaria all went into a pseudo lockdown without being able to give all their citizens a proper explanation. However, it was easier for them to accept when they found out that their country wasn’t the only one that had gone into lockdown—especially once the other three found out that Vallum had.

Of course, the lockdown didn’t matter to Derek. He considered the time before the collision as part of his downtime, so he did plenty of adventuring outside the cities to check out his temporary status sheet. Since he was unable to go inside any dungeons anymore, he found groups of level 250 monsters outside of cities and in some of the more dangerous areas around the kingdoms to fight.

After killing dozens, if not hundreds, of different beasts, he came to the conclusion that increasing his level any further while on a planet that was part of the Davenresh System, or probably even the Universal System, would be extremely hard. No, it wouldn’t be impossible, as after slaying all those monsters, his essence percentage did finally hit one percent.

However, if he wanted to get it to 100%—and what he assumed would be the next level—he imagined that it would take clearing out an entire kingdom or two’s worth of beasts. He imagined that he would be able to do it in a couple of months if he could still run dungeons, though. But even then, each level would get harder and harder because of the diminishing returns for being a higher level than the monsters he was fighting.

Like Dave had suggested, or at least how Derek had assumed, his body just needed higher quality essence to continue to level—especially since he was still sharing everything with Silvi. On the bright side, however, he was only a single command away from ascending and going to a place that had that high-quality essence, so that kept him from being too stressed or anxious about it.

Another thing that Derek did during his downtime was go see Marrick and inform him about everything. He didn’t want his friend to be left out in the cold, so to speak.

The old goblin had been exploring Alanah’s old home country and was having one hell of a time putting young elves in their place. In the short amount of time he’d been there, the higher-ups of the kingdom had already offered him plenty of positions. And, after rejecting all those offers, he’d been targeted for assassination by those higher-ups. They didn’t want an elf with such power running around off a leash. The old elf said he was having the time of his life.

Marrick was also quickly able to piece together the possible invasion with what little information Derek could provide. According to the old goblin, he did not need, nor want, any new armor or weapons. Derek should have known this because of how long the man had been alive, but it turned out that the robe the man wore was already at a legendary rank, and he refused to fight with any weapons—saying that they would just get in the way of his control. Not to mention, he didn’t want to waste a weapon by attuning it to himself since he didn’t plan to be around much longer.

He did continue his promise to Brandi and gave Derek a slew of materials for the girl to work with—and for the smiths to possibly use to outfit everyone. He knew that Brandi would understand if some of it was used for that purpose. He’d also gather a few ingredients for Silvi. He was a very thoughtful, cranky old man.

Marrick also refused to go back with Derek for the time being. He figured that both continents would get hit, and since the other continent had Derek and Silvi, he’d stay where he was for some time. Since it wasn’t like Derek was traveling to Earth and back, he decided that it wasn’t a big deal, as it only took him a few minutes to get from one continent to the other if he needed to.

Back in Savannah, Geoffrey was still experiencing PTSD over his meeting with Nyx. Apparently, it was even scarier than when he met with Marrick, and he couldn’t help but replay their conversation over and over, hoping that he hadn’t offended the Leader of the Assassin’s Guild. Still, Nyx ended up walking away with a pair of chairs that looked even more comfortable than Derek’s own.

Derek also had tea with Natalie and discussed a lot of trivial things. She was very outspoken about his having a relationship with Alanah. Of course, she was in very in favor of it. She just happened to have an odd relationship with the woman herself. She was so outspoken about it that he only had tea with her the one time, even though she invited him back whenever he wished.

Finally, the time came for Derek to receive his armor. Tyron was finished with everyone’s weapons except for Silvi’s cleavers, and Shaemus only had Derek’s armor remaining. After receiving the call from Braxton, Derek quickly went to his travel room and Void Traveled to the Throne Room in Stonehelm.

His sudden appearance wasn’t appreciated by all the guards, and he guessed he should have waited until Braxton had enough time to notify his brother that he was coming, but he was too excited to wait. He was like a kid on Christmas morning when it came to receiving actual upgrades in his gear.

“Mr. Hunt,” King Darius said after Derek closed the portal and calmed his palace guards down. “A little notice beforehand would be appreciated. And did you have to come straight to the Throne Room?”

“Sorry,” Derek said while rubbing the back of his neck. “If Braxton was by the smiths, I didn’t want to go in and disturb them with the aura, and I know that the Throne Room inside palaces always have a big open place for me to travel to. They are kind of my preferred landing spot.”

“I… see,” Darius said. “Yes, Shaemus has reported that he is only awaiting your arrival to attune the set, then he will be able to finish up in the next couple of days.”

“Awesome,” Derek said. He also saw out of the corner of his eye that some of the guards were very displeased with the casual way he spoke to their king. However, he really couldn’t care less about any of that. “I can’t wait! Now, who’s going to take me to Shaemus?”