System Change

Thomas was anxious. He did not quite understand what was happening, but from Leon’s words and Derek’s seriousness, he knew that it could be bad. He had never seen Derek get serious before, so when Derek shouted at him to run, he ran.

The group of five had made it a good distance away from the battle. They made sure to run in the direction the others had initially fled. Eventually, Leon stopped running and stilled. Thomas, seeing Leon as the makeshift leader of the group, stopped too.

“What are we doing? Why did you stop?” The first to ask the question was Malorie. Thomas watched as she anxiously shifted her body from side to side. “Is it…” She trailed off and did not continue to speak.

Leon smiled a sad smile. “Yes. He’s gone.” Travis, being held by Leon, had finally succumbed to his fate. “I’m sorry.” Leon laid Travis’s body on the ground.

Thomas watched the sombrous scene. Brandi ran over to Travis and fell to her knees. She wept uncontrollably.

Seeing this, he was reminded of losing his own parents. The difference was that Brandi had gotten to say goodbye, but Thomas had not even been able to see their corpses. All he knew was what he was told.

Two years ago, his parents had both reached level 24. They were warriors of the village and had gone to the nearby dungeon to obtain the skill reward. The dungeon was for those under level 25 and offered a few different common skills as rewards for completion. It allowed no more than five people in at a time and was considered easy among the known dungeons.

Rayna, the village leader, had gone solo and had no problem completing it. So, with his mother and father both going, there was no worry in the village.

Unfortunately for Thomas, the two never returned.

Thomas snapped out of his daze and continued watching. He looked over to Leon, who had backed away to give the mother and daughter some space. Then he approached.

“Chief Leon?” He asked.

“Yes?” Leon turned away from the grieving pair and gave his attention to Thomas.

“That thing from the sky, you said that was a Void Beast? And Derek summoned it? Is that even possible? Do you think Derek is okay?” Thomas could not control himself and rapidly spit out question after question, his anxiety and stress increasing with every new question.

“Slow down, boy.” Leon halted Thomas. “Now, I don’t know much about your ‘friend’ Derek.” Thomas could see wariness from Leon when he mentioned Derek. “Legends describe how Void Beast’s appear and leave. Usually, they come through an open portal, then leave by breaking the void in the sky and entering. I don’t know how it happened, but the Void Beast we just saw broke the void to get out.” Leon gulped. “This means that portals aren’t the only ways for a Void Beast to appear.”

Thomas could see the fear in Leon’s eyes when talking about the Void Beast. “So, do you think that Derek will make it out okay?” He asked again.

“Boy, I don’t know. If he doesn’t, it serves him right. He had no business messing with things he doesn’t understand.” Leon took a deep breath. “Even if he does live, it’d be better off if we never saw him again. A man like that will only bring the village trouble.”

“Is that so?” A voice from behind the two rang out. They both spun, just to see a smirking Derek standing behind them.

***

Once Derek left the abandoned village, it did not take him long to catch up with Thomas and the others. After seeing the dead Travis, he had waited to approach, not wanting to disturb Malorie and Brandi. He casually eavesdropped on the conversation between Leon and Thomas.

He heard Leon’s words and felt his apprehension from his voice. Well, I guess I can’t blame the guy. His village was destroyed, and he lost most of his people. Also, he probably knows that I could have saved Travis, and even if he understands why I didn’t, it would give him some reservations about me. And to top it all off, I summoned a legendary monster from the void that is known for its destruction. Oh well, I’m sure he’ll get over it.

Derek approached the two and made his presence known. “Is that so?” He said, scaring the daylights out of the man and boy. The two turned to him, both with different expressions. Leon looked scared and embarrassed, like he had been caught doing something he should not have. Thomas looked scared too, but that quickly changed to relief, then happy once his mind processed what he was seeing.

“Derek! You’re okay!” Thomas ran forward, hugging Derek by his waist. “The way Leon talked about that monster made it sound like there was no chance.” Thomas’s eyes were reddening, and tears threatened to form.

Derek had not expected this outburst of emotions from Thomas. He had observed Thomas as emotionally strong. Well, except for when he was sure that I was going to kill him. But even an adult would have had a hard time in that situation. Derek peeled Thomas off. “You okay, kid? You seem a little… off.”

“I… Um… I’m just happy you’re alive.” Thomas backed off, his cheeks turning rosy from embarrassment.

Derek looked to Leon, who was standing off to the side, brow furrowed. Looks like he’s trying to figure out what to say. Derek’s smirk turned into a smile. “Sorry to disappoint you. I somehow made it back.”

Leon’s eyes widened. “No, I’m not disappointed. I was just speaking without thinking. I’m sorry.”

Derek had never seen somebody backpedal as fast as Leon was. He just chuckled and continued. “It’s okay, I understand your reservations. Earlier was completely my fault. Your Great System gave me a new skill, but it did not have much of a description. I should not have tested it out with people around. Just know that I don’t believe anything like that will happen again, unless I use the skill. And based on what I now know of the skill, I don’t see myself using it anytime soon.” Derek hoped what he was saying would calm the man down.

Leon let out a sigh. “No, I was still wrong. You saved me, you saved Thomas, hell, you saved everyone who is left from my village. You didn’t…” Leon looked towards Thomas, then to the body of Travis. “Couldn’t save Travis, but that’s not your fault. I’ll trust that you will control your new skill and won’t endanger anyone. You’ve done much more good to us than harm. I’m sorry for what I said.”

Derek nodded to Leon in understanding. He looked over to the mother and child. He breathed deep and asked Leon. “Would you like me to store his body so he can have a proper funeral once we get to Thomas’s village?”

Leon was taken aback. “You would do that? I’m sure Mal would be very grateful.” Leon answered.

Derek nodded to Leon. With a sad smile on his face, he walked over to the women. “You’re Malorie? Brandi? I’m sorry for your loss. If you like, I can store his body so you two can give him a proper send off once we reach where we are going.”

Brandi still sobbed, but Malorie looked up at Derek. She smiled. “Thank you. We would like that very much.”

Derek kneeled down next to the body and placed his hand on top of its chest. He looked at Brandi, who was still clutching Travis’s hand. “Please release your father’s hand so we can bring him with us.” He said in as gentle of a tone as possible.

Brandi let go, and the body disappeared.

“Okay everyone, it’s time to catch up with the others. The longer we’re here, the higher the chance of something bad happening to them. And you’ve all already lost enough people for one day.” Derek gave the group a warning, letting them realize that what he said was true.

“I’ll take the lead.” Leon said.

Derek looked at Leon skeptically. He was still quite injured from before, and it would take some time before he was fully healed. “No, it would be better if I led. You’re still injured.” Derek thought for a second before taking a small container out of the bracelet and tossing it to Leon. “Here, apply the paste on your wounds and you will heal faster.”

Leon caught the container. He looked inside, then nodded. “Thank you.”

Brandi, seeing the healing supplies, started to say something. Seeing this, Derek knew what she was going to say. “It’s not enough to bring someone back from the dying state. It’s only good enough for superficial wounds like cuts and bruises.” Brandi did not say anything.

“Let’s go.”

***

It was already evening when the group of five set out, so soon it was nighttime. Derek had the group walk through the night, so they could catch up to the remaining refugees. The children could not keep up, so Derek carried Thomas for most of the night, while Leon and Malorie took turns carrying Brandi.

Derek could have arrived much sooner if not for the group, but at the pace they were setting, it was not until the next morning that they came across the remaining villagers.

After arriving at the group, Derek decided to camp for some time so the children could rest. With him there, they would not have to worry about being attacked. While doing so, he let Leon explain everything that had happened to the villager. Derek could not help but be saddened by the atmosphere of the crowd after Leon’s information.

Looks like everyone lost somebody there. He looked over to see Leon with his wife, Sana. They looked happy to be together, but Derek could see the guilt reflected in their eyes. That’s going to be tough on Leon for the foreseeable future. Survivor’s guilt was a crushing thing.

Later, Leon and Sana came and sat close to Derek. Thomas had already awoken from his nap and was beside Derek.

“So, what happened with that monster?” Thomas asked.

It surprised Derek that it had taken so long for anyone to ask about the Void Beast. He had expected the question to come from Leon, but his conversation from earlier had probably put a halt on any questioning.

Both Sana and Leon perked up their ears after hearing the question. “Oh, that thing? It was nothing. I’m sure that there are a ton of people around that could take care of one. Once it saw that it could not do much damage to me, it jumped back into the sky and broke back into the void.” Derek paused for a second, giving the group some time to digest what he had said. “I think the legends are a bit overrated. Sure, it's tough, and hits like a trai… hits really hard. But I don’t think it’s worthy of a legend. I’m sure a high enough level person would be able to slaughter them by the dozens. At least if they are all the same strength as the one I fought.”

“I have seen one that appeared to be stronger than the one I fought, so maybe we got lucky and I only summoned a weak one. I don’t know. All I know is that I’m not planning on using that skill again for a very long time.” Derek explained.

“It left? Just like that?” This time, it was Leon asking the question.

“Yup. Just as soon as it knew it couldn’t kill me. Pretty smart if you ask me.”

Out of the corner of his eye, Derek noticed Brandi stirring from her slumber. “Okay. Since everyone is awake, it’s time to get going.”