System Change

“What notification was that?” Derek asked, still enthralled by the story the siren was telling.

“Do you know about the…” Alanah paused in preparation for what she was going to say next. “The… Requirements… for… Advancement,” she muttered, then clenched her fists in victory once she got all the words out.

“Do I know about them?” Derek asked rhetorically. “I know of them.” And I’m pretty sure that the stupid Origin System blocked them when I’m going to receive one from the Great System, he thought. But I do have that one requirement met from the Origin System tucked away somewhere.

“So, you know that one of the requirements is to…” She paused again. She seemed to do that every time she came upon something that she had never been able to say before because of the Great System. “Get four of you six stats to 1,500 points.”

“Sure… yeah… that sounds about right.” He thought back to when the Origin System blocked the Great System when it gave him a notification about reaching a requirement for something. So, it was the advancement, like I thought. That makes sense. It was when I increased my and Silvi’s wisdom stat to 1,500 when I got the system interference. Once I did that, I had endurance, vitality, intelligence, and wisdom all at or over 1,500 points.

“Well…” Alanah looked at Derek with a frown, but continued. “I have had four of my six stats at 1,500 points for decades. Which means that I have had the Requirements for Advancement row in my status sheet for decades. The two stats that I don’t have up there are my dexterity and my vitality.”

“The two stats that don’t really increase with Void Beast meals,” Derek said. He also found that it was interesting that gaining one of the requirements added another row to the status sheet. It was kind of like when he signed his first contract and got a ‘contracts’ tab. He couldn’t help but wonder what else there was that could be added to the status screens. However, he didn’t mention any of that, and continued listening.

“Exactly.” Alanah nodded. “Well, except for the young Void Beast’s vital blood, and now the potions that your alchemist friend is able to craft,” she explained, then continued. “So, after such a long amount of time, I had given up on ever getting the second requirement. I assumed that it would take getting all six stats to 1,500 points or more. Which is why I was thrilled when I found out that you could practically summon Void Beasts. Then I was even more ecstatic when Mr. Pascal created the potion that gave a permanent boost to stats—including dexterity. Of course, it was a small increase, but with time, I would have been able to get there and learn what the ‘advancement’ was before I died of old age.

“However, for some reason, when I got my last class skill to level 20…” she paused again, but nothing happened. “When I got it to level 20, I met the second requirement. I can’t say for sure that the requirement was met because I got it to level 20, or if I did something else, but that seems to be too big of a coincidence for it not to be that.”

“Probably,” Derek said with a nod. Though, what if her affinity with her path reached a certain percentage once she got that skill to 20? It could be either of those things, he thought. “It would definitely make sense that maxing out all of your class skills would get you some kind of reward. Why not advancement?” Derek thought about his own class skills. Will I ever be able to get Void Call to that level? He wondered.

Time Prison, Void Shift, and Void Steps are well on their way to it. If I really just focus on them, then I’m sure I’ll have them to twenty in no time. But Void Call… And that’s if it’s even the case. I’m sure that the requirements from the Origin System are different than the ones from the Great System. I mean, I unlocked a requirement from it before I even had the four stats to 1,500.

“So,” Alanah said with a nod—breaking Derek out of his thoughts about his own skills. “I leveled the skill, unlocked the second requirement, and received the notification for advancement.” Alanah was still hesitant about everything that she spoke of, but as she continued, she seemed to be less and less so as the system didn’t take any action against her.

“And what was the notification?” Derek asked. “What does it say?”

“This is what I’m most unsure about the Great System allowing me to discuss… but here we go,” Alanah explained after letting out a deep breath. “Specifically, the notification said, ‘Congratulations! You have completely the requirements for advancement. Prepare for…’” Alanah paused for a moment, obviously concerned about what she was going to say next. “Prepare for ascension to a different system…”

“Ascension? To a different system?” Derek asked with wide eyes before she even finished, wincing when he realized he cut her off, but since he already had, he continued. “Did it say to what system? Was it the O—” he began to say ‘Origin System,’ but was immediately hit with an overwhelming sense of dread that if he continued on that path of speaking, something horrible would happen. “Uhem…” he coughed. “What about the Uni—” he tempted fate by trying to speak about the Universal System, and was surprised when he didn’t get the same feeling as before. “Is it the Universal System?”

Now, Derek very much doubted that would be the case—as Dave had told him that the Great System was one of quality, and the Universal System was one of quantity. Alanah was nothing, if not quality. Not to mention that she had said that her notification read that it was an ascension, which meant it should be a higher system—the Universal System would be more of a horizontal move. But Derek also knew that the Universal System was huge, and there was probably a lot that Alanah could explore or Achievements or Titles that she could get by changing systems like that.

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Also, he already had massive doubts that it would be the Origin System because of how it reacted with his own advancement requirements. Why would it interfere in the Great System’s advancements if they were both connected to the same place?

“I see that there is a lot that you know that I don’t, yet are unable to tell me,” Alanah said with a smile. “Like this Universal System, I have never heard of it, but you are allowed to speak of it. Which is very interesting… and no, it did not speak of which system the ascension would be to.”

“That seems that’s the case,” Derek said. “But, sorry for cutting you off. Please continue.”

“That is fine,” Alanah said with a chuckle. “It is very intriguing, is it not?”

“It is.”

“Anyway,” Alanah continued. “The notification ended with ‘Prepare for to a different system from Davenresh System.’”

“Davenresh?” Derek asked with a frown. Davenresh… as in… Dave? He thought. Is the system named after the person or family that are administrators of it? Or is it just a coincidence? Dave is a pretty common name. That was pretty much the only thing that made sense. Dave had been kind of flippant about people calling the system the ‘Great System.’ We also never knew what the other system was called, either. Just that it was ‘the system.’ I never saw anything about it being the ‘Universal System.’

“That is what it said,” Alanah replied. “I find it quite funny now that I know the system’s actual name. It makes all those years of speaking of the ‘Great System’ in reverence seem quite silly, does it not? I also understand why you never bothered addressing the system as such.”

“It definitely does seem a bit silly,” Derek agreed. “And yeah, I never found a good reason for the ‘reverence’ that everyone shows. I’ve certainly never done it, yet I was never struck down for my disrespect…”

“Mhm.” Alanah nodded her agreement.

“So, did you get anything else after the notification? It said to prepare? What’s that about?” Derek finally asked.

“Well, it seems that the system at least isn’t heartless,” Alanah said to his question.

“What do you mean?” Derek asked.

“It has given me some time to ‘prepare’ for the ascension. I have a couple months left of that time,” Alanah said, then shook her head. “I am still astonished that I am able to speak of this with you with no consequence. I wonder if you will be able to take my words and explain it to Avery and Stella. I doubt that would be the case, though.”

“I can always try,” Derek said. Maybe, after the evolution from the Origin System, I can at least speak about whatever I know about the Great… now, Davenresh System to others, without any problems. But I doubt that it’s that easy, he thought. “So the system gave you a countdown, then?”

“Yes,” Alanah answered. “Though it seems that I can activate it myself any time I want. If I choose to, I can accept the ascension right now.”

“I see,” Derek said. He wasn’t sure what to think. The way it sounded, Alanah was definitely going to be gone before too long. I wonder if I will still be able to locate her with Void Travel, Derek thought. I may be able to go get her when she leaves or maybe I could hide her in my Time Prison. The system is cut off there, I think… wait… “Are you looking forward to going?” he asked. “If not, I may be able to come get you or keep you from going with my Time Prison.

“I am going,” she replied firmly. “I have been stagnant in my growth for far too long. If this is an opportunity to grow stronger—to live longer—then I would be a fool not to take advantage of it.”

“I guess you’re right,” Derek said. Remembering that his stats used to have question marks to anything past 1,500 points until the Origin System came in and helped him with his evolution, Derek could almost guarantee that the siren would be heading to a system with fewer restrictions on strength.

Wait… Derek knew that he could speak about ‘essence’ or ‘affinity’ if he used them as general terms, but if he used them more specifically, like how Dave had used with him, would he be able to? Only one way to find out. “Do you know about… what about…” Nope… he thought when the dreadful feeling washed over him again. Maybe it’s an Origin System only thing.

Hold on… Derek thought he might have a way to ‘cheat’ a little. He was, after all, able to help Clare with her training by basically telling her to get closer to her element. After that, Walter had even gone as far as to put her living quarters in the middle of a pond.

“Ran into another hiccup?” Alanah asked.

“I did,” Derek said. “But maybe… once you go, you should really focus on your training with your class—err… whatever makes you a siren. Try to get closer to it—you know, like how I had Clare training so she could get a better class. Accept it, don’t reject it. And don’t rely just on your given skills.” That seemed to work just fine, Derek thought. And why wouldn’t it? It’s something that I had already talked to people about while I was still ignorant of the importance that one’s affinity holds.

“Accept it?” Alanah asked with a bit of a frown. “So… grow closer to my class without only relying on my class skills? Got it.” She readily accepted his advice.

A smile grew on Derek’s face as he nodded with a smile. Derek thought about the times when he or others had used the word. Some people had actually used it like he was trying to—both Natalie and Alanah had. Yeah… it seems like it’s fine when you’re actually ignorant of how valuable it is to know, but when you know the specifics, it becomes taboo.

“Great!” Derek said.

“I’ll remember that once I leave,” Alanah said, then she turned serious. “I’m sure you’ll be right behind me, though. But I was hoping you’ll help take care of Stella while you’re still here.”

“Of course,” Derek replied, knowing that there probably wasn’t a chance that he would be going to the same place she was if he ascended. She wants to get stronger, huh? He thought. I’m pretty sure when or if I ‘transfer systems,’ I’ll be going to the Origin System… wherever that is. And the way it sounded from Dave, it’s kind of THE system. If I can find her with Void Travel once I get there… I’m sure she’ll be happy to come back with me to an even better system. Derek smiled on the outside, but inwardly, he was making new plans—plans that wouldn’t leave anybody who wanted to grow stronger with him behind.

The new revelation that one could just be ‘transferred’ to a better system once they reach a certain potential opened up many ideas for Derek. Right then and there, he made a decision—he would embrace the void. He would no longer be skittish about it. Because… the void was his chance to grow, to protect his people, and to help them grow as well. Who says you need one system’s help to change to another? I did it unknowingly with the void once. I’m sure I can do it again.

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