System Change

Imagining how much more powerful the armor would have been if it didn’t have a cooldown, Derek shook his head and smiled. This is already overkill in so many ways, he thought. Having a two-hour cooldown is already much shorter than my Starfury Boots—which doesn’t even say how long the cooldown is on them. I can actually plan a bit around this armor if there comes a time when I’m stuck fighting for hours on end.

“What are you thinking about now?” Shaemus asked as he began putting away the armor mannequin that had been equipped with the armor.

“I was just imagining what it would be like if the armor skill had an even shorter cooldown,” Derek answered honestly.

“Then it would be at some rarity other than mythic… which isn’t possible,” the smith replied.

It isn’t possible here… Derek thought, but didn’t say. “Yeah… that’s no lie,” he said. “But… I have to say, Shaemus… you’ve really outdone yourself with this armor. I don’t know what I was expecting, but I know that mythic-grade armor was not it.”

“I am a pretty great blacksmith, am I not?” Shaemus snorted.

“Yes… you are,” Derek replied. Still feeling giddy about his new armor—and thankful to the smith for using some of the rare materials passed down through his family—Derek looked around the room and asked, “Is there anything I can do for you?”

Shaemus, too, looked around the area and shrugged. “Maybe extra brew as a bonus? Something to take with me when I leave? What do you think?”

“I think that can be arranged,” Derek laughed. After getting the armor, he had already planned on seeing if Roman could make some extra just as a tip.

“Then, other than that,” Shaemus sighed, “just do your best when the time comes. I’m no pushover when it comes to fighting, but in the end, I am no fighter, so this is pretty much all the help I can give.”“Of course I will,” Derek replied. “That’s a given.” After that, Derek and Shaemus said their goodbyes. He wasn’t sure if he would ever meet the dwarf again, but he was happy that they did meet. Most likely, this would be the last time they saw each other—they would, of course, be ascending to two different places, and Derek wouldn’t be nearly as obsessed with finding the dwarf as he was with finding Alanah. Well… if I find her and it turns out that he is close enough to travel to, I may visit him, Derek thought as he left the smithy without the smith seeing him out.

Shrugging off those thoughts, Derek sighed and thought, Let’s go finish leveling up these resistance skills. With that, he made his way to the palace to use the Throne Room as his personal travel chamber, but was stopped by King Darius just before he was able to make a portal.

“Is that it?” the king asked as soon as Derek stepped inside. His coming to the palace was already so commonplace that the guards had just escorted him in as soon as he walked up. “The armor? Is that it?” the king said again.

“Yes,” Derek said. “This is it.”

“May I ask…” the king began, but Derek cut him off.

“It can negate some damage for a bit, then send a portion of it back in an attack,” Derek said. “It’s pretty good armor for defense. The cooldown of the skill could be shorter, but it will work.” He didn’t exactly lie to the man, he just gave him an explanation that wasn’t quite perfect. He also didn’t mention the automatic repair ability. Not to mention the fact that he was sure the king would find out about the true capabilities of the armor the next time he spoke with Sheamus.

“I see,” the king replied. “That sounds like quite the ability.”

“It’s pretty good,” Derek replied. “But if you don’t mind, I have somewhere I need to be.”

“Of course, of course,” Darius replied. “Go, finish your preparations for what is coming. Do not let me keep you.”

Derek nodded, then opened a portal for Void Travel. After stepping in and closing it behind him, he locked onto Osian and stepped forward.

“It can what?!” King Darius jumped out of his throne in shock as he looked down at the grinning Shaemus. “A bit of damage, my royal arse! Pretty good? That… that…” The dwarf’s face was currently more crimson than it had ever been during a heavy night of drinking.

“Well…” Shaemus chuckled. “He didn’t lie. It definitely does exactly what he said it does… just far better than he made it seem.”

Darius let out a deep sigh and then slowly lowered himself back down onto his throne. “I am certainly glad that the armor cannot be used against the Kingdom of Vallum, at least. Adding that to the conditions was a great idea.”

“Yeah…” Shaemus shook his head. “Against that man and the amount of mana he can generate. I don’t think the armor would make too much of a difference if he decided to go against the kingdom.”

The story has been illicitly taken; should you find it on Amazon, report the infringement.

“That is true,” Darius sighed. “My brother has already told me as much.”

“Yes…” the smith nodded seriously. “Now that the armor is with its owner, there is something that I must speak to you about.”

“Oh?” Darius’s eyes widened. “What is it? Is it about the armor?”

“Yes and no,” Shaemus replied. “I’ve already spoken to my family, but I must now inform my king…” Shaemus closed his eyes and let out a deep breath. “King Darius… I will be leaving soon.”

***

Universal System…

Council Room…

“Now on to the next item on the agenda, and the most important discussion,” Darvin said as he looked around the table at all his council members. His eyes lingered on a couple of them before moving to the next. It seemed that his summons and promise of punishment, if they did not attend, were enough that all ten of the council members finally showed up.

“Is this about that theory of yours again?” The youngest and newest member of the council, Jakis, spoke. This was only the third council meeting the man had deigned to show up to—one of which was the meeting where they brought him on as a member. Jakis was short—about five feet tall—with dark skin and razor-sharp teeth.

The man was the head of the Shinestra race—a race full of system shapeshifters of many varieties. As a young man, Jakis had chosen a powerful unknown creature outside the system to imprint on and barely survived it. However, once he survived, he came out of it with a potential greater than most, if not all, of his race. Later on, he lived up to that potential and became the ruler of the Shinestra. Unfortunately, his success at every turn had made him less than desirable to deal with.

The meeting had already gone long, and Darvin hadn’t even brought up the topic of the system invasion. He was being petty, but Jakis had ignored too many summons as it was, so he was deliberately making the man suffer.

“It is not a theory anymore,” Darvin finally said. “In fact, I am one hundred percent certain. We will soon invade another system. I do not know what the exact process will be like—I imagine it will be similar to a normal invasion with some caveats—but that is why I have had each of you gather all your strongest and keep them on standby for the time being. If it turns out that we are able to invade with no restrictions, then we will not hold back. This is too important.”

“Having them on standby is leading to some unrest among the lower-tier commanders and soldiers,” Amelia, the near-giant Ascari, said. “Some of the beasts on our occupied planets are pushing further and harder than they would like with all our strongest gone. I do hope that all of this is worth it. I fear that it will take months to regain what we have lost in weeks.”

“You too?” Darvin looked at Amelia with a frown. The Ascarian was one of the few people he could always look to for support. He hadn’t expected her to speak out against his command.

“I am not complaining,” Amelia said. “I am only stating facts.” The woman looked around the table—her gaze causing some to wince and draw back as their eyes met. “Some are struggling more than others.” She turned her head back toward Darvin and said, “I saw the system hunting with my own eyes, so I know that you speak the truth. I only wonder if the gains will be worth it—not knowing what will happen once the system finds its prey… that is.”

“Oh,” Darvin said. That was better. The woman wasn’t exactly speaking up against Darvin, but was just voicing her concerns over certain things. “Yes,” he said. “I believe that the reward will be more than worth any risks we take.”

“Hah!” Kelvin snorted from the side. “I’ve not lost any ground on my controlled planets. In fact, my productivity on some battlefields has increased. You all just need more people willing to step up and take the initiative… people willing to put their lives on the line to grow stronger.”

Darvin looked at Kelvin and rolled his eyes. A few weeks ago, the man was in the same situation as everyone else. Then, he sent the man he hated to one of the battlefields that was being overwhelmed just so he wouldn’t have to see him for a while—thinking that it would take the man a long time to push the beasts back. Unfortunately, or fortunately, the man had not only succeeded in his mission, but he did so quickly. After that, Kelvin continued to send the man from planet to planet as needed.

And this is the man who has been coming here and complaining about that man every chance he got, Darvin thought to himself. Though, his mindset has changed a bit since his meeting with Derek Hunt. He is more serious now. It also seems like Jace Whitaker has become more obsessed with growing stronger since Kelvin last spoke to him. They aren’t exactly on good terms, but they aren’t at each other’s throats… right now.

“Speaking of which,” Darvin said as he looked at Kelvin. “I saw that Jace has obtained level 250, and I am unable to observe his exact status. You should consider him one of your elites. Bring him back off the planets. With his skills, he needs to be on the front lines once the invasion starts.”

“But…” Kelvin started, but was cut off by Darvin.

“This is not a suggestion,” the Malaxi said. “This is an order.” Kelvin lowered his head and muttered something under his breath, but Darvin ignored him.

A couple of the council members looked at Kelvin with gloating smiles. As Amelia had said, some of them were having a harder time holding their planets than others, and it really did come down to having people step up—just as Kelvin had said. However, Kelvin just happened to have a monster among his lieutenants. Unfortunately, it was not so for everybody.

In fact, Amelia was mostly speaking for the others. She was, of course, losing ground on some of her battlefields, however, she was gaining more and more elites by the day. So much so that even if the reward for the invasion wasn’t great, Darvin did not believe they would be losing more than they gained. At least, those leaders like Amelia wouldn’t be. Darvin even made a mental note to introduce changes to the armies once the invasion was over. It was dangerous, but they seemed to be finding more and more diamonds as time went by.

Finally, the System Watcher looked back at everyone. “The final reason that I have gathered you all here today is to confirm that you have all prepared as I have asked.”

Looking around the table, Darvin saw everyone nod. Even Jakis nodded reluctantly. “Good,” Darvin said. “It is nice to see that you can all follow orders…” his eyes fell on the young leader. “At least somewhat.” Jakis scowled at Darvin, but the Malaxi didn’t pay him any mind and continued. “The other reason that I called you here was to say…” Darvin smiled and looked at Amelia, who had been concerned. “If my calculations are correct—which I believe they are—the invasion will begin within the next month. And that is being generous. In fact, it could be any day now. The system has slowed its approach and is honing in.”

“Finally… is that it?” Jakis said with a yawn. “Can we leave now?”

“In a moment,” Darvin replied. “But just know… it is not only your soldiers who will be invading.” The man waited for everyone to look at him. All the council members were strong. Some were strong in their combat ability… some were strong in command and loyalty. Darvin smiled widely. “If it is allowed, you… no… we will all be going. This is much too important to fail.”