System Change

As the noble fell to his knees inside the Time Prison, Derek stepped in behind him. As it was before, the prison was extremely dark, the only light coming from the door to the outside. I’m going to have to get some lights for this place. He put that on the list of things to do. If he planned on using this ability often, he would at least need to decorate the lobby.

After some time, Derek heard footsteps behind him. It seemed as though Jacks worked up the courage to follow Derek inside.

“I didn’t expect you to come in so quick.” Derek said.

“It just took a minute to get the nerve to. I trust you well enough. If you were going to harm me, I suspect you already would have.” Jacks answered.

Derek nodded his head in agreement.

“Now it’s time to see how this works.” Derek motioned around him. “This.” He said to Jacks. “Is a prison.”

That got Jacks’s attention. “Did you say… prison?”

Derek bobbed his head in confirmation. “Yup. It’s my very own time prison.” He replied.

“A skill that gives someone a prison.” Jacks said to no one in particular. “How does it work? If you don’t mind.”

Derek waved him off. “I don’t mind… in fact, that’s what I’m doing here, now.” He replied. “You see, I’ve never had a reason to use it before, so I’m not sure how everything works. That is where this guy comes in.”

“I see. Do you really need a prison, though?”

Derek laughed. “Of course I do. I’m not a huge fan of killing everyone that crosses me, but it’s not like I can just let them off. You saw how well my warning went. At the same time, I don’t think everyone deserves death. A little time to themselves may change their attitude, and at the same time, some people deserve worse than death. I’m hoping this prison will allow for both. Besides, some people are more useful alive than dead.”

“I can see how staying by oneself in a place like this could drive a person mad.” Jacks replied.

Derek’s eye twitched. You don’t know the half of it. He thought. “Yeah, I’m sure it would.” He agreed.

Finally, Derek picked Clay up from the ground. “Come on.” He said while pushing him forward, towards one of the cells. “You’re going to be inmate number one until I figure out something else to do with you.”

With Jacks watching, Derek and Clay arrived at the closest cell door. Derek reached out and placed his palm on the door to open it. The door opened, causing a rush of air to flow out. Derek pulled the storage ring off of Clay’s finger and pocketed it before tossing him inside the cell. With a push, Clay stumbled into the empty room.

With the noble inside, Derek closed the newly occupied prison cell. When the door closed, Derek received an interesting notification.

New occupant in Cell #003.

Select occupant’s sentence.

Note: Occupants can not be removed from cell until their sentence is served. Time served is based on flow of time inside the Time Prison cell. Once the inmates complete their sentence, they are unable to be imprisoned again for one week.

Derek furrowed his brow. That takes away some of the possibilities. As he was thinking, he focused on the sentencing options. Currently, the minimum sentence was one week, and the maximum was one year. Of course, this was only the time that Derek would have to wait for the prisoner’s sentence to be over. Depending on how he adjusted the cell’s flow of time, the sentence could be much harsher or lighter.

Since Derek was still in the experimental phase of the Time Prison, he opted for a sentence of one 28-day month. If needed, he could speed time up and get the noble out in two weeks, or he could double it and leave him in for two months. Once he selected the sentence, a new notification appeared.

You have selected 28 days. During these 28 days, inmates will be locked in the cell and unable to leave.

During lockup, skills and stats will be frozen in time, as this is a punishment, not a reward.

Inmate’s body will adjust according to the outside flow of time. Metabolic function will be adjusted accordingly. The prisoner will not die of dehydration or starvation.

Confirm Sentencing?

Y/N

That notification answered a question that Derek had ever since he was locked inside the void. It explained why it felt like he was trapped for decades or even centuries, but in reality, only a couple of years had passed. Unfortunately for him, his metabolic function was not adjusted when he was trapped. If not for his already high Vitality, he would have died from starvation while he was there.

Derek confirmed the sentencing. A loud bang sounded out, and a screen with numbers appeared on the cell door. Derek watched the numbers count down from 28 days. Currently, the screen showed 27 days, 23 hours, 59 minutes, and 53 seconds. Derek watched the seconds count down. 52… 51… 50…

Then Derek placed his hand on the cell and focused on adjusting the time. With a thought, the number displayed on the cell began counting down rapidly, two seconds for every one spent outside. Then Derek adjusted it again, and the countdown slowed. Now, only one second passed inside the cell for every two seconds Derek felt. He left the cell alone at that. With time slowed down, Clay’s imprisonment would feel like two months.

Under the scrutinizing gaze of Jacks, Derek backed away from the occupied cell.

“Amazing.” He heard Jacks say. “You’re able to adjust the individual flow of time for each prison cell?” He asked.

“Looks that way.” Derek answered.

“Can… can you use them as training rooms?” Jacks asked excitedly.

Derek sighed and shook his head. “Unfortunately, no. That was one of the things I wished to know when we entered. When the cell locks, apparently it blocks the inmate’s ability to access their skills. So, no matter how much time is spent imprisoned, their abilities will not grow… at least that’s what the notification sounded like when I read it.”

“How unfortunate.” Jacks also sighed. It didn’t take a genius to see the allure of a training room with time flow that could be adjusted.

“Indeed.” Derek answer. Suddenly, Derek got another idea. “Would you mind staying here for a moment?” He asked Jacks.

Jacks frowned. “What?”

“Just don’t move, I’ll be right back.” With the Time Prison his focus, Derek adjusted the time flow of the lobby. According to what he knew, the flow would take effect when he closed the prison.

Before Jacks could respond, Derek ran outside and slammed the prison shut. Derek stood still and waited for exactly two minutes. When the second minute passed by, Derek grabbed the space surrounding him and ripped it apart, revealing the door to the prison.

He reached out and opened the door, only to see a wide-eyed Jacks standing in the center of the room.

“So, what happened?” Derek asked.

“Y-you… You locked me in here without knowing what would happen?” Jacks half yelled.

“I was almost 100% sure that you would be okay. The cells gave me all kinds of warning when locking Clay away, but nothing popped up when I closed the door with you still inside. No warning, not confirmation, nothing.” Derek explained. “So, did anything happen? I waited two minutes outside. Did it feel like one minute in here?”

Jacks took in a deep breath and calmed down. “Yes. It couldn’t have been more than a minute… at least, I don’t think. I was busy reading the notifications.”

“Notifications?” Derek asked.

Jacks nodded. “Yeah. I was told that I had been locked inside a time prison, and that any progression of my skills and abilities had been halted. I also got a warning that time had been adjusted relevant to the outside world, but it didn’t tell me in what way.”

“Interesting.” Derek murmured. So, this ‘lobby’ could be used as a prison too, if I was out of cells. He thought. “Did it say anything about your metabolic functions?”

“No?” Jacks shook his head in confusion.

“I’m guessing that there isn’t a control for that here, then.” Derek said. So, being shut in the lobby would be more like me being trapped in the void. Still, this space would make for a great transportation skill. Since I don’t have to confirm a sentence, I could use it to carry people.

That would be great for later. Currently, with the father and son Torith, he wasn’t in a rush to get to Savannah with everyone, so they could all travel the normal way, but if he ever needed to move everybody quickly, he could. Of course, he still wanted to test it some before putting Brandi and the others inside.

Derek nodded to himself as he came up with a plan. He reached into his pocket and pulled out the storage ring he took from Clay. We should probably ‘loot’ the battlefield before we go. He thought.

“Okay, let’s get out of here.” Derek walked back outside the prison. With Silvi sitting on his shoulder and Jacks standing beside him, he closed the prison.

Derek looked over the gory land and spoke. “Okay, let’s take anything valuable, then get out of here.” He handed the storage ring to Silvi. He had taken a look inside before, and it didn’t have anything he found useful other than potions. The bunny bit down on the ring and hopped off his shoulder.

He had forgotten about Malcolm’s storage devices earlier, so he walked over and stripped his dead body of multiple items, including four storage rings. He tossed two near empty rings to Jacks.

“Well, what are you waiting for?”

With that, the trio combed over the battlefield, looting anything and everything they found to be the least bit valuable.

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