System Change

After the advice that Derek gave Clare through private telepathy, the young girl smiled at him and no longer bother to speak about becoming matriarch of House Searidge—or, in her case, not becoming matriarch of the family. It also wasn’t difficult for the others to see that Derek had secretly said something to her, as neither of them did anything to hide that fact.

Soon after all of that, Ester and some other restaurant staff arrived with the first round of food. Even if they weren’t hungry before, it was hard not to become so with the mouthwatering aroma of the culinary creations placed before them. The first round of cuisine was a hit and barely lasted long enough for the next round to be prepared.

Other than some sighs of satisfaction, gasps of pleasure, and many whispers of appreciation caused from the taste of the dishes, the group was quiet and focused all their attention on consuming what was in front of them. The next round came out soon after, and the same experience happened once again, then again. Finally, everyone other than Silvi had consumed every crumb of food that they had ordered. The only reason that Silvi hadn’t yet was because the staff was still preparing and bringing out the items she had ordered.

Silvi was not a happy bunny when Derek decided that it was rude for to still be dining while everyone else had already finished and made her split the remaining meals between everyone—who, despite already being stuffed full from their previous consumption, had no hesitation finding room for even more. Derek could have almost felt bad for the small bunny and the pouting faces she was making, if not for knowing how greedy she was being.

Once again, Derek wondered if the “Void” in the “Mythical Void Bunny” part of her status sheet was an indicator of all the food she consumed just disappearing into the void. However, though she would never turn down a meal no matter how much she had already eaten—unless, of course, the food sucked or had been damaged from Void Travel—she didn’t seem to be ravenously hungry at all times or anything.

Derek remembered reading about various all consuming creatures during his solitary time on Earth before the system came, but so far, Silvi didn’t remind him of any of the descriptions just yet. She also—luckily—hadn’t attacked or killed anyone for stealing the final slice of pizza yet. Though he could definitely see the temptation in that scenario. Still, he wondered what her future growth—and possible other evolutions—would bring. He would actually prefer her affinity to steer further away from the void affinity and more toward her cooking affinity if at all possible—and that wasn’t entirely for selfish reasons, either.

The final courses went by quickly, and soon, everyone was finished enjoying their food. It too… a very long time for Delilah and Richard to settle down and come back to once they received all the temporary buffs that the dinner had given them. Derek’s stats, too, were receiving temporary buffs—all of them. Even his stats with 1500 or more points received small stat increases for half an hour or more.

He also had the same sort of feeling in his head—albeit much less intense—as he did after being surprised with a piece of Silvi’s special cake. “Everyone,” he announced once he realized it. “Use Mediation or any other skill that you want to level up while you have that weird feeling in your head. You should be able to gain skill levels must faster with it.”

Clare, Zac, and Luke all looked at one another before turning to the adults. “Can we leave? We need to spar,” Luke asked.

The next moment, the children left and Jensen followed them—whether that was to also train or to watch and make sure they were okay, Derek wasn’t sure. However, the young man would be missing out if he didn’t do anything with the opportunity. Everyone else did their own thing, too. Malorie and Walter seemed to already be using Meditation before Derek even mentioned it.

Rudy had already cleared the plates out from in front of him and had brought out multiple contracts to go over. Delilah had her eyes closed, clearly meditating, and after some hesitation, Richard seemed to decide that Meditation was the simplest, but also an important skill to level.

Derek, even knowing that it probably wouldn’t provide near as much help for his skill as it did for the others, also decided to meditate. Greater Meditation was still his most used and useful skill in his opinion. However, because he had Greater Meditation, which allowed him to keep it active, and because the buff from the meal wasn’t near as overwhelming as the one from the cake, Derek was able to work on multiple skills at once. There really wasn’t much he could use while just sitting there and not fighting, so he decided on casting Absolute Nullify behind him, out of the way. At least that way, he could at least work on two skills.

Instead of meditating like everyone else, Silvi also cleared the table around her and took out a bunch of ingredients. Using Void Creation(Cooking), she made multiple knives, and using Mage Hands and Telekinesis, she began to chop, mince, and cut up the ingredients in other ways. She was really making the most out of the temporary buff.

The group continued their impromptu training until the buffs ran out. As to show her great timing, just after the buffs stopped, Ester opened the door and came in with a smile plastered on her face.

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“I hope you all enjoyed your meals and their benefits,” the woman said as she strolled forward.

“It was very surprising,” Derek said. “You should warn people about that buff before they eat,” he laughed.

“Warn you?” Ester tilted her head in confusion. “It was in the tier four menu. Did you not read it?”

“It was?” Derek asked and looked around the table. Malorie looked back at him with a nod, which would explain why she didn’t have any hesitation when going into Meditation. Richard look a bit embarrassed as he saw Delilah nod too.

“You have to always read everything,” Rudy said sagely. “Whether it is a menu or a contract, you don’t want to let any opportunities or tricks to slip by you.”

It looks like it was just Richard, Silvi, me, and the children who didn’t bother to read anything other than the food that was being served, Derek thought, and his face flushed a little red. “Oh,” he said. “Sorry,” he apologized to Ester. “I never was very good at following directions or instructions.”

“Hmm…” Ester touched her hand to her chin in thought. “We never really have any tier four customers. Perhaps I should make a note to include the information vocally as well as on the menu for others. It seems that you were not the only one to… miss the information.” As she spoke, she glanced over at Richard as well, which made him look even more embarrassed.

“If you could get him to listen to any instructions, it would be a miracle,” Delilah said with a cheerful laugh and elbowed her husband in the side. “I’ve been trying to for years with no success.”

“Tell me about it,” Ester giggled toward Delilah. From the side of Derek, even Malorie had a smile on her face.

“Why didn’t you say anything?” Derek asked Walter. “You clearly knew, too.”

“It’s like Mr. McKinney said. Always read everything,” Walter replied. “It’s a tool you develop when you’re a patriarch of a noble house… hopefully. Especially after you’ve had to sign a contract or two that is heavily unfavorable to you and your house. Though, that specific contract was one that was unavoidable for me and my family.”

He was, of course, talking about the soul contract that he had to sign after the dishonor brought upon his family by his uncle. Derek could definitely see how having one of those contracts would make one careful of all future contracts, even if it wasn’t something they had a choice in before. Well… I guess he had a choice, and he chose the one that would at least allow the rest of his family to grow.

“I see…” Derek said. “I guess I’ve never really signed an unfavorable contract. Though… I probably should read things in more detail,” he laughed. “My mother would have been very disappointed in me,” he said, to the surprise of everyone who really knew him—which mostly included Malorie and Walter. He’d never really spoken about his family to anyone.

“Your mother?” Rudy asked.

“Yeah,” Derek nodded. “She did pretty much the same thing as you back where I was from. Dealt with a lot of contract law,” he said. His mother was an attorney back on Earth when he was growing up. She was like Rudy in the fact that she always stressed reading everything in a contract, and if he didn’t understand something, to find someone who did. She was someone who would even read the End-User License Agreement if it was put in front of her.

Derek smiled as he thought about her, but was quick to change the subject. “So, what’s the damage?” he asked Ester. “What do I owe you?” Beside him, Malorie flicked her wrist and one of the cards issued by the bank appeared in her hand.

“Oh,” Ester said. “You don’t have to worry about that right now.”

“Really?” Derek asked.

“Of course,” Ester said, and Derek was surprised. He didn’t think he would be getting a free meal of such value. “We will put it on your tab and take it out of your next contracted payment,” she explained. “Unless, of course, you would like to pay for it right now. We can do that if you wish.”

“Oh…” Derek said, his hopes of a free meal dashed. Well, at least it’s money that we never saw. It will feel like I never had it to begin with. It’s better this way, he thought, delusionally. “That’s fine, then,” he said. It’s kind of like credit. “Go ahead and put it on my tab.”

“Great!” Ester said happily. “Is there anything else I can do for you today?”

Derek looked around the table and other than Silvi—who seemed to want to order even more food—everyone seemed good. “That’s it,” Derek said.

“Great,” she said again. “In that case, the room is yours. You may stay as long as you like and leave whenever you wish. You may leave on your own or call someone over to lead you down. The rune to do so is just beside the door there.” After that, Ester bowed once again to dismiss herself for the final time.

“Thank you for everything,” Malorie said to the woman before she left. “It was very good.”

“It was my pleasure,” Ester said before leaving.

“Whew.” Derek leaned back in his chair and whistled before patting his belly. “I’m stuffed.” It was like a scene out of a family Thanksgiving.

“I couldn’t eat another bite,” Rudy said as he gathered up all the contracts he had been working on during the skill increase buff. “Well… I probably could if another dish was placed in front of me. It’s just too good to let it go cold or go to waste.”

“Yes,” Delilah said. “It was delicious. The best tasting food I’ve ever had in my long life.”

“It looks like we owe you even more,” Richard said with a bow from his seat.

“Nonsense,” Derek said. “It’s just a little meal. And you don’t owe me anything for bringing Thomas with me. He’s a good kid and can already fend for himself—as he’s done in the academy so far.” Richard and Delilah looked at each other and smiled, proud of their grandson.

“Still,” Delilah said. “It was delicious, and I’m sure it wasn’t cheap.”

“Hmph,” Silvi snorted, then, from her communication crystal, said, “Just wait until you try dragon. Sooo good. Getting better each time I make it.”

Derek recalled the taste of the meat when it was only cooked with a little salt and pepper, then roasted with Silvi’s dragon flame. It was definitely something that could be prepared and would possibly be just as good, if not better, than any of the food they had just eaten. And if she added some of those spices that Dave gave her… Derek thought. Then again, only a few people would be able to try it at that point.

“Wait,” Derek said. “How many times have you made dragon meat?”

“Dunno,” Silvi said. “Whenever I want meat.”

“Oh…”

“Well,” Walter said. “I, for one, look forward to tasting any of Ms. Silvi’s cooking. She is a fine cook,” he praised the bunny. “However, it is getting late, and I must go find the children and make sure they’re doing well.” He stood from his seat and bowed to Derek. “Once again, Derek… thank you for the meal.” Derek only nodded.

After that, Delilah and Richard dismissed themselves as well. Finally, all that was remaining was Derek’s group. “It is getting late,” Derek said to them. “I guess it’s time to go home.”

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