System Change

Half of the students around where Thomas was sitting and where Derek appeared jumped out of their seats. Derek held in his laughter, and Thomas looked down at his feet in embarrassment. “Calm down, everyone. The fight’s over. Now… what did you learn today?” he asked.

“I learned that having a teleportation ability in a fight when those that you’re fighting don’t, is a very unfair advantage,” Syd replied from the front row of the stands.

“No… well… yes, that’s true,” Derek said. “As any combat class, you should always keep an eye out for movement skills that work well with your fighting style or allow you the ability to escape. But that’s not what I was going for. So, what else?”

“Well…” Thomas started. “Uh…”

“That sometimes, no matter how good of teamwork you may have, you may end up against a monster where the only thing you can do is hope to escape with your lives,” a voice sounded from the distance and Derek looked up to see one of the instructors—the tank who had been quibbling the most about Derek only having rumors and no proof before the fight—walking toward them. “And it’s best to assume the rumors are true when the person is right in front of you and may take you up on proving them true. Especially if he shows no signs of hesitation.”

“Plus one for instructor…”

“Jeffords,” the tank said. “Ryan Jeffords.”

“Plus one for Instructor Ryan Jeffords,” Derek said, then focused back on the students. “You all seem to be doing very well in group and teamwork training, and I imagine that you will have no problem clearing any dungeon that is close to your level. You just have to always have it in the back of your minds that someone or something may be stronger out there. Dungeons of your own level are probably the safest way to gain experience, both skill and otherwise, because you never know when you’re going to run into a ‘monster’ out in the open world. At least in dungeons, the strength of the monsters are somewhat controlled.”

“Right,” Syd Ibarra said. “We are currently in dungeon studies, and that is one of the main topics.”

“Good,” Derek said with a nod. “As it should be, but always be prepared for an anomaly, just to be safe.” He said as he thought about the interference caused by the Origin System.

Then, he looked back to Instructor Jeffords, then past him to the other instructors who were standing by the battlefield or still being healed. His eyes landed on the man he’d hit with his rend skill and the healer who was treating him. “How is he doing?” Derek nodded toward the prone man. “I feel bad about his armor. Injuring one’s pride a bit is one thing. Damaging someone’s armor in a spar like that…” Derek clicked his tongue and shook his head.

“Don’t feel bad about any of that,” the outspoken Instructor Jeffords said with a chuckle. “In fact, he couldn’t be happier.”

“Really?” Derek asked in confusion. “Why is that?”

“Whatever you hit him with is causing Instructor Bradford to level his resistance skills rapidly. I don’t know if it is because of the skill or because of your abilities… He even tried to keep Instructor Cruz from healing him…” The man shook his head. “But she ignored him and concentrated on the wound, and, as it turns out, the difficulty of healing the wound is also helping her with her healing skills. Just what was that strike?”

“It was a spatial skill,” Derek answered. “It leaves one hell of a wound. It’s great for an extended battle because it has some anti-healing properties, so whoever you hit with it will have to fight with an open wound until the battle is over. The skill is especially nice in fights with multiple people. You’re basically greatly impairing the ability of whoever you hit with it.”

“Good skill,” the man grunted in affirmation. “So the rumors about you… they’re true? You’re the strongest person in the kingdom? Possibly the entire continent?”

“One of…” Derek corrected. “Like I said, I’ve never fought against Alanah Swan, and I don’t really want to find out which one of us is currently stronger. There are also people like Avery Swan and maybe Prince Edgar who could at least escape from me.” Of course, he failed to mention that with a combination of his Void Travel and Void Sense abilities, he’d be able to track them down easily enough.

Derek could basically move as far as his Void Sense skill could sense, but Avery may even be able to move further than that in an instant if he were to go all out. But as far as he could tell, nobody he’d met could truly escape him—especially if he’d spent any meaningful amount of time with them.

“Well… I believe it now,” the instructor said. “You won’t hear anything else from me. But I’m not apologizing.”

“I wouldn’t expect you to,” Derek said. “You had plenty of reason to doubt me.”

Derek chuckled, then looked at the other instructors again. He sorted through his personal storage bracelet until he found some of the materials he’d kept for himself to repair his wyvern armor when needed, then pulled out a couple of scales. In the next instant, he appeared beside the warrior he’d hit with Spatial Rend and tossed the scales down to him.

The man had a pleased and happy expression on his face while he chatted as the healer’s hands hovered over his side and glowed bright white. When the wyvern scales hit him in the chest, he looked up at Derek, then down at the scales in confusion.

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“For your armor,” Derek said. “It looked pretty expensive, but I’m sure any smith you can find will repair, or even make you an entirely new set if you trade those wyvern scales with them.”

“I.. I…” the man muttered, but before he was able to say anything, Derek was gone and back seated in the stands beside Thomas.

“That should make up for the armor,” Derek said. After that, he chatted a bit more with the students, and the rest of the instructors came over once Instructor Bradford was finished being healed. Not all of them were as outspoken as Jeffords, and for the most part, they were silent. Bradford couldn’t keep the grin from appearing on his face occasionally.

Instructor Bradford still had a small wound on his side, but it was no longer hindering the man. It seemed the healer and warrior had come to an agreement to let the wound heal naturally the rest of the way. Derek wondered how much that would help the warrior’s skills. He also wondered what the warrior may have offered the healer to get her to agree to that.

Finally, the instructors decided that it was time for the students to get back to the academy proper. “Don’t forget,” Derek said as they rounded up the students. “You’ll be able to run the dungeon again soon, so you all better be prepared.” The students and instructors all nodded, then filed out of the arena. Soon, all that was left was Derek and Thomas—who Derek requested to stay behind.

“So, did you miss me?” Derek asked the boy with a smile.

“I did,” Thomas replied. “I’m so happy you came back sooner than the three years we all thought you would be gone.”

“How have you been lately?” Derek asked.

“I’m good,” the boy said. “I had really looked forward to running dungeons with the rest of the class like they said we would at orientation, but after the first dungeon, we weren’t allowed to leave the capital because of Astrus and Indria. It’s really over? What you said is true?”

“Yup,” Derek confirmed. “They’re wrapping everything up as we speak. Like I said, the news will come soon, and you’ll have more dungeons to run that you know what to do with.”

“That’s great!” Thomas brightened up. “I can’t wait.”

“I’m impressed,” Derek said. “You’ve grown a lot since the last time I saw you. And not just in height, either.” He ruffled the boy’s hair. “Though you’ve most definitely grown in height—you’re like half a foot taller than you used to be. What are they feeding you here?”

“Mhm…” Thomas nodded. “My spear seems to have gotten a little shorter, too.”

“Hah!” Derek laughed at the little joke the boy made. “Well, I may be able to help you out a little on that front. Of course, once you’re able to get some custom made ones, those will suit you better, probably.” With a flick of his wrist, Derek pulled out the spear that he’d… permanently borrowed from the Astrus treasure vault.

“Oh, wow!” Thomas grabbed the spear and began turning it over in his hands, examining it deeply. “This is amazing… a little…”

“Gaudy?” Derek asked with a chuckle. It was a bit decorative, but what more would one expect from a weapon that came out of a kingdom’s private treasury? Derek certainly didn’t know how it was made, but the main shaft was made out of some extremely durable red wood with gems inlaid throughout, and about a third of the shaft—where it connected to the spearhead—had a small black metal bar on either side.

Derek wasn’t sure what the bar was for, but he could guess that it would make blocking blows from swords and other weapons less likely to damage the wooden shaft. The butt of the spear had what looked like a sharpened diamond on the end—which would make it lethal from either side if needed.

“Yeah…” Thomas said while touching the diamond-like gem on the butt of it. “It’s a bit decorative for my tastes, but it’s so light and easy to handle… ow!” The boy shook his hand as a small drop of blood fell from his finger.

“Careful,” Derek said with a laugh. “But it’s good that it feels comfortable to hold,” he continued, then gave the kid a warning. “As you know, it would be best to only use that spear around people you absolutely trust,” Derek explained. “Even if they know who I am and that you have a connection to me, some people will do extremely stupid things just because of greed.”

“That’s good,” Derek said, then gave the kid a warning. “As you know, it would be best to only use that spear around people you absolutely trust,” Derek explained. “Even if they know who I am and that you have a connection to me, some people will do extremely stupid things just because of greed.”

“I know,” Thomas nodded somberly. “I’m not going to make that mistake again.”

“Speaking of which.” Derek began. “Have you made any friends? Found anyone that you think you can trust?”

“Well…” Thomas sighed. “Not really… no. At least not on the friend part. I am ‘friendly’ with some people, and there are a few that I do think I can trust, though, and we’re on pretty good terms. And I think they like having me in their group when we do group training.”

“I would think that everyone likes having you in their group,” Derek said. “You pretty much kicked everyone’s ass out there. By the way it looked, I would say you’re what? Top three in your entire class? Maybe even higher?”

“Maybe,” Thomas’s face flushed in embarrassment. “I do pretty good in the classroom stuff, too, but there are others that do better. I do rank pretty highly in combat, though.”

“No need to be modest,” Derek said. “You took my aura like a champ. The only person who did better was that Syd kid, and he’s going to be a monster. I can tell that he has that chip on his shoulder because of the family he is from and the fact that he doesn’t conform to their normal classes and fighting styles. Plus, he’s got a lot of grit and isn’t afraid to speak out when there is something he wants to know. Seems like a good kid. Is he one of the ones you think you can trust?”

“Yes,” Thomas replied. “Him and Eric… Eric is the elven earth mage that was in my group today. They are too focused on their own strength and honor—especially after what happened after House Torith—to care about the fact that I’m using such a spear.”

“Speaking of Eric… his surname wouldn’t happen to be Greenland, would it?” Derek asked. The boy reminded him of a certain cocky elf.

“Yes!” Thomas answered. “Do you know him?”

“Not him, but someone that is part of his family,” Derek said. Two people, actually, and Svetlana if I can count seeing her at the auction. I wonder if he knows about Asana yet and who she was to him. I hope she wasn’t his mom or sister or something. “Is he always soo… quiet?” Derek asked. If he wasn’t, then that could be the reason that the boy didn’t seem too conversational.

“Yes,” Thomas replied. “He’s always like that. He never says much.”

“And how is his temper?” Derek asked. Victor had one hell of a temper, but he also seemed to be able to calm himself when needed.

“I’ve never seen him get angry or flustered,” the boy replied. “Why?”

“Oh, no real reason. Just that the man I know from his family can be a bit of a hothead,” Derek said.

“Victor?” Thomas asked.

“How did you know?”

“It’s his brother. Probably going to be the next patriarch of House Greenland. He talks about him occasionally when I can get him to. He’s a bit envious of him.”

“Oh,” Derek said. That would make Asana his cousin as well. “He’s quite a bit younger, it seems…” Derek said.

“They’re elves…” Thomas answered matter-of-factly.

“Oh, yeah… right.” Derek laughed. Elves lived a long time and weren’t very fertile. Having children with major gaps in ages made sense. “Well, other than all that, how has life been as an academy student? What have you learned?”

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