System Change

“You...” The creature hissed. “are a user of the void.” The almost snake-like voice escaped the maw of the beast. It paused, staring at Derek, seemingly waiting for an answer.

It did not receive one. Derek was still looking at the creature in shock. So many questions were flying through Derek’s head. ‘How was it speaking?’ ‘If it was a creature not bound to this system, how was it speaking the system’s language?’ ‘Was it even speaking the language of this system, or one that he already knew from his old system?’ The questions bombarded his brain. He was not surprised that it was intelligent enough to communicate, though. Silvi had already shown him that it was possible.

After waiting for some time, the beast spoke again. “You have the power to call into the void, but not the power to control.” The disdain in the beast’s eyes was still there, though it drew its eyelids down in a squint.

Derek snapped out of his confusion. He chuckled and placed his right hand on the back of his neck. “Sorry, sorry. It’s just… you caught me unprepared is all… What was it you wanted to know?”

The beast hissed again, irritation clear in its voice. “You use the void, but not well. You direct it, but cannot fully control it.”

“Uh… well, yeah… I guess. I thought I was doing a pretty good job at using it, myself.” Derek focused the void into his hand and made a fist.

“Ignorant!” The Void Beast screeched. “You know not what you play with.” The beast calmed and let out a deep breath. “Luckily, I was close by this time.”

Oh? Is this the part where the legendary beast decides to take on a genius apprentice? Is it going to show me proper ways to use the void? Ways that aren’t included in the system. Derek's blood was boiling in excitement. This unexpected situation may actually turn out to be a blessing in disguise.

Derek, unsure of custom, bowed slightly. “I’m sorry if I offended you. I’m new to the whole ‘void’ thing. Any tips would be much appreciated.” That sounded genuine, right? Yeah, it was pretty good. C’mon training arc.

The Void Beast’s mouth drew up into a menacing smile. Rows of razor-sharp teeth all appeared at once. Then the creature let out a booming laugh. “Me, show you?” Its laughter increased. “No, no, no, no, no.” It shook its head. “I’m not here to help you. I’m here to kill you.” That was when it attacked.

The Void Beast launched itself forward towards Derek, its clawed hand leading the charge. Derek had hoped for some good fortune and more of a discussion, but he had never let his guard down.

The movement of the beast was almost as quick as Derek’s own at top speed. Derek moved his right foot behind him and braced for impact, crossing his arms to shield himself against the razor claws.

The claw hit his unarmored forearm and penetrated his skin before stopping at the muscle. It was reassuring to Derek that the attack only managed to break through his skin, though he knew that there would be much stronger attacks to come. The beast pulled its blood covered claw back and jumped backwards.

Derek’s arm was soaked in fresh blood, his blood. It had been a while since the last time a beast had been able to draw his blood. The last one to do so was the Acidic Ghoul he faced before getting all of his levels. The wound stung, but not enough for it to show on his face. He looked at the four claw marks flowing down his forearm, but smiled when they began rapidly closing on their own.

Derek looked up at his new opponent with a grin. “I wanted to talk some more, but this is fine too.”

The previous disdain filled eyes of the Void Beast were now widened and filled with amazement. The creature’s snake-like voice rang out. “Your body…” The creature’s words came out, confusion in the tone. “How… You are not just an amateur void user.”

“I tried to tell you, I just picked up the skill. My main focus is on… other things.” Derek replied.

“You must not live!” The beast shouted before attacking again.

The Void Beast was fast. Much faster than the first one he killed, and he knew that it was possible it was even stronger than the one he met in the void all those months ago. It seemed to be a little taller than that one, but he could not be sure.

Derek did not bother dodging. He wanted to test out his body with a worthy opponent. It was the reason he was out here doing this, after all. Well, that and the possibility of increasing his standing with the Crown. Plus, there had not been many opportunities for him to train his Physical Resistance skill.

Derek blocked strike after strike of the Void Beast, his entire body becoming a crimson mess in the process. Blood dripped down from fresh wounds on his side, chest, and arms. He was careful to not let the creature hit any vital parts.

He was extremely satisfied with his body’s ability. Though his Vitality and Endurance could not heal his wounds completely before a new one was inflicted, Derek doubted that it would actually be possible for him to die from a loss of blood.

Keeping an eye on his health bar, Derek took hit after hit, watching the number fall, then rise again. Sure, he was not healing faster than the Void Beast could damage him, but it was close. Even with open wounds and blood cascading down his body, his health was sitting at over 90% full.

If someone was to look at the current Derek, they would wonder how he was still standing on his two feet, but the reality was that he was perfectly fine. Well, he would have to go shopping for some new pants after, and he really hated that he was ruining a pair of his remaining jeans. He was pretty sure that this world did not have baking soda or peroxide.

He had to admit, the strength of the beast was astounding, and on top of its speed, he figured that there would not be a single person in Torith that could last five minutes with the creature. Derek wanted to fight back, but his Physical Resistance had already grown three levels in the less than five minutes that he and the Void Beast had been fighting.

So far, all the Void Beasts Derek had seen had the same traits. Fantastic speed and strength on top of near impenetrable defense. It was almost like fighting a lesser version of himself.

Derek started moving slower, taking more injuries and losing more HP. If he wanted to reap as many rewards as possible from the fight, he would have to make it look like the Void Beast had a chance. It was very adamant about killing him, so it should not lose its drive to kill him so easily, but he did not want to take any chances.

Plus, there was a good chance that he would not be able to keep it from escaping with the speed and strength it had already shown, and he could not have that. Not only did he need to obtain its corpse, but he also wanted to interrogate it a bit. Derek could not help but wonder why it was so set on killing him.

His health hit 70% and he began retreating while blocking the attacks. At this point, his Physical Resistance had already grown to level 6. He hoped that he would be able to get the skill to level 8 before his health reached 40%. He did not feel comfortable letting his HP fall below that, especially while bleeding from the countless wounds. Though, he did still have Rejuvenation to rely on if needed.

Derek took a beating for well over ten minutes. The Void Beast finally seemed to be getting tired, but it had a fire burning in its eyes, showing that it was ready to push past its limits to land that final killing blow on Derek.

Finally, Derek felt his back against a boulder and his HP was just below 40%. His Physical Resistance had actually made it to level 9, making it almost even with his Magic Resistance. Derek looked at the panting beast, the fire in its eyes all but smothered. It stopped a meter from him and stared.

Derek looked at his bloodstained body and moved his arm, wincing at the pain of some of the wounds. He could actually see the bone at his elbow. Before, he was satisfied at how well his body was holding up. Now he was giddy with excitement. He finally let it show on his face.

“Human.” The beast spoke again. “You laugh at the inevitability of your death. Respectable. You were much stronger than I expected, even for a turtle.”

Derek burst into a fit of laughter then. “You’re mistaken. I’m not laughing at my death.” He shook his head while bending over with guttural laughter. He winced at another of the many rips in his flesh tearing back apart.

“What is your meaning?” The beast grumbled.

“You.” Derek straightened and pointed his index finger at the exhausted beast. “Are the best training dummy I have ever had the pleasure of meeting.” Derek closed his eyes and cast Rejuvenation over his entire body. The already rapid healing of his wounds became even faster. A new wound closing every second.

The beast stumbled back at this, fear flashing through its eyes for the first time. Derek had been told that Void Beasts had an uncanny sense for when to flee, and its fight-or-flight response had just landed on flight. It turned, putting the same strength and speed into fleeing as it had before when fighting.

Before it could take two steps, Derek launched himself forward, grabbing its shoulder and pulling to spin it around. Derek balled his hand into a fist and blasted it into the creature’s midsection. It was like hitting a steel wall. Neither his fist nor the creature took any damage. The force of the impact made the Void Beast slide backwards a couple of meters, but that was it.

Derek looked at his fist and smiled. He had already gained a ton from leveling his Physical Resistance in this fight, but he was even more excited to see how far he could push his Unarmed Combat Mastery, and with the defenses of the Void Beast, it was the perfect opportunity.

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